Saturday, January 24, 2015
Georgia State sails by UL Lafayette, 75-64
ATLANTA -- Ryan Harrow scored 19 points and R.J. Hunter scored 13 to become Georgia State's career scoring leader in a 75-64 victory over UL Lafayette on Saturday.
Hunter, who surpassed Rodney Hamilton's career total of 1,515 points, also had seven rebounds and seven assists.
Kevin Ware finished with 11 points off the bench and Markus Crider had 10 points and six boards for the Panthers (13-7, 6-3 Sun Belt Conference), who shot 51.9 percent from the field while holding UL Lafayette to just 33.9 percent.
Georgia State had a 16-4 run midway through the first half and led 32-18 at the break.
Shawn Long led the Ragin' Cajuns (11-9, 5-4) with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Jay Wright added 14 points for UL Lafayette, which has lost four of its last five.
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Georgia Southern beats UL Monroe 57-53, for 1st in Sun Belt
MONROE, La. -- Jelani Hewitt drained back-to-back 3-pointers late in the game as Georgia Southern defeated UL Monroe 57-53, claiming first place in the Sun Belt Conference and knocking the Warhawks a half-game back on Saturday night.
Eric Ferguson came off the bench to score a season-high 19 points before fouling out, Hewitt added 15 for Georgia Southern (13-4, 6-2 Sun Belt).
Neither team shot well in the tightly contested battle -- Georgia Southern sinking 21 of 50 and Louisiana-Monroe 19 of 52. Each had 10 turnovers. The Eagles drained 9 of 23 3-pointers with Hewitt and Jake Allsmiller sinking three each.
Ferguson a drained a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer, lifting Georgia Southern into a 29-27 lead the Eagles would hold the rest of the way.
Tylor Ongwae scored 17 for Louisiana-Monroe (12-8, 6-3), with 10 rebounds.
Hewitt, with two steals, is now the record holder for Georgia Southern with 223 career.
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UT Arlington comes from behind to beat UALR 75-68
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Lonnie McClanahan scored 21 points to lead UT Arlington in a 75-68 come-from-behind victory over UALR on Saturday night.
McClanahan led the Mavericks with 12 points in the opening half but they trailed 39-28 after shooting below 40 percent and committing 12 turnovers. Midway through the second half, the score was tied at 48-all after the Trojans were held to just nine points. UT Arlington made 14 of its 27 points in the final 10 minutes at the free-throw line to pull ahead.
McClanahan shot 5 of 8 from the floor, and 11 of 13 on free throws. Erick Neal and Jamel Outler each added 11 points for the Mavericks (12-7, 6-3 Sun Belt Conference).
Roger Woods scored 14 points to lead UALR (7-12, 2-7), and Josh Hagins and James Reid had 12 points apiece.
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Appalachian State fends off Texas State, 64-58
SAN MARCOS, Texas -- Frank Eaves scored a career-high 31 points as Appalachian State won its fourth straight Sun Belt Conference game, knocking off Texas State 64-58 Saturday night.
The victory matched the Mountaineers longest winning streak against Division I opponents since 2010-11.
Eaves converted a layup with 10:57 left in the first half to give Appalachian State the lead, 11-10, which it never surrendered.
Texas State managed to tie the game at 37-37 with 13:32 left in the game on a three-point play by D.J. Brown, but Dustin Clarke answered with a layup that sparked a 9-0 run.
Eaves was 10 of 16 from the field and 4 of 7 from distance for Appalachian State (8-10, 5-4 Sun Belt).
Texas State (10-9, 4-6) got 16 points from Emani Gant, with Brown and Ethan Montalvo adding 12 and 11 points, respectively.
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Arkansas State overtakes Troy in 64-55 win
TROY, Ala. -- Anthony Livingston scored 16 points, including the go-ahead bucket in the second half, and hauled in 13 rebounds to lead Arkansas State to a 64-55 win over Troy on Saturday.
Sean Gardner added 13 points and Cameron Golden sank four 3-pointers as Arkansas State (9-10, 4-6 Sun Belt) shot 40 percent from the field on 57 attempts to snap a two-game skid. Livingston shot 6 of 10 from the floor.
Trailing by five at the break, Arkansas State retook the lead midway through the second half during a 22-3 run that included a trio of 3-pointers from Golden to make it 54-43 with 5:43 left. Livingston sank the go-ahead bucket early in the run and the Red Wolves protected the lead down the stretch.
Kevin Thomas led Troy (7-11, 2-7) with 20 points to go with his 11 rebounds. Wesley Person Jr. added 14 points and Chris Bilbo had 11.