Williams leads South Alabama over UL Lafayette 89-82
LAFAYETTE, La. -- Ken Williams finished with a career-high 28 points and added seven rebounds and two steals to lead South Alabama to an 89-82 win over UL Lafayette on Saturday.
Down by eight early in the second half, a 10-2 run by the Jaguars -- highlighted by back-to-back baskets from Dionte Ferguson -- knotted the lead at 53. South Alabama went up seven on Ken Williams' layup with 46 seconds, but Lafayette's Brian Williams drained a 3 to make it a four-point game.
The Jaguars then hit six free throws in the closing minute to seal the game.
Taishaun Johnson had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Georgi Boyanov added 14 points, six boards and three steals for South Alabama (5-12, 3-4 Sun Belt). The Jaguars shot 55.2 percent from the field.
Shawn Long had 22 points and a career-high 22 rebounds, both Brian Williams and Kasey Shepherd chipped in 13 points and Jay Wright scored 12 points for the Ragin' Cajuns (10-7, 4-2).
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Ford has 26; Troy upsets Georgia Southern 75-71
TROY, Ala. (AP) Kelton Ford made 6 of 9 from long range for a career-high 26 points as Troy held on to upset Georgia Southern 75-71 in Sun Belt Conference play on Saturday night.
Troy, trailing 65-64 with 2:57 left, made eight straight free throws to take a 72-65 lead and end Georgia Southern's win streak at four.
The Eagles got more points in the paint, 26-12, and outshot Troy from the field (43.1 percent to 40.7 percent). The Trojans won it from beyond the arc and at the free throw line. Troy made 12 of 23 3s (52.2 percent) while limiting Georgia Southern to 10 of 32 (31.3 percent). The Trojans made 19 of 24 free throw attempts. The Eagles were 5 of 7.
Musa Abdul-Aleem had 23 points and Kevin Thomas added 10 for Troy (7-8, 2-4).
Jelani Hewitt had 28 points for Georgia Southern (11-4, 4-2).
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Appalachian State beats Georgia State 74-69, ends 4-game skid
BOONE, N.C. (AP) Tommy Spagnolo scored the final nine points and Appalachian State regained the lead in the last 21 seconds and held on to defeat Georgia State 74-69 on Saturday, breaking a four-game losing skid in Sun Belt Conference play.
Ryan Harrow made a pair of free throws, lifting Georgia State (11-7, 4-3 Sun Belt) to a 69-68 lead with 49 seconds left. But Spagnolo dunked with 21 seconds remaining. He was fouled while rebounding a Panthers miss with four seconds to go and made both foul shots. Still with four seconds to play, after each team called a timeout, Spagnolo stole the inbounds pass, was fouled and hit two more from the line.
Spagnolo finished with 22 points, dunking twice in the last 1:38. Frank Eaves scored a career-high 27 points on eight 3-pointers for the Mountaineers (5-10, 2-4), who hit 12 from distance.
Harrow led the Panthers with 21 points.
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Arkansas State gets past Texas State in OT, 78-73
JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) Anthony Livingstone and Cameron Golden combined to score 46 points to lead an Arkansas State comeback that netted a 78-73 win in overtime over Texas State Saturday night.
Emani Gant scored on a layup to start the second half to give the Bobcats a nine-point lead, 35-26, before Golden drilled a 3-pointer to spark a 10-0 run fueled by a pair of Livingstone jumpers and capped by a Sean Gardner trey.
Wesley Davis drilled a 3-pointer with :09 to play to pull Texas State even and force overtime, while Livingstone hit a pair of layups and Golden and Charles Waters each knocked down four free throws to put the game away.
Livingstone finished with 24 points and Golden 22 to lead Arkansas State (8-8, 3-4 Sun Belt).
Ethan Montalvo finished with 18 points to lead Texas State (10-6, 4-3). Cameron Naylor finished with 15 points and Gant added another 11.
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UL Monroe tops UALR 64-52
MONROE, La. (AP) Majok Deng scored 14 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead UL Monroe to a 64-52 win over UALR on Saturday.
Nick Coppola had 15 points and five assists, Tyler Ongwae added 13 points and nine rebounds, Justin Roberson scored 12 and Marvin Williams 10 for the Warhawks (6-10, 1-5 Sun Belt).
Josh Hagins finished with 15 points for UALR (6-10, 1-5). The Trojans shot just 28.8 percent from the field and a mere 20 percent from 3-point range.
After a dunk by Deng put the Warhawks up 16 early in the second, the Trojans mounted an 8-0 run to cut the lead to eight with 12:37 remaining, but UL Monroe bounced back with eight-straight points capped by a Coppola 3-pointer. Down the stretch, Hagins' 3-pointer with 1:14 left cut the lead to seven, but the Warhawks scored the last five, all on free throws.