Little Rock rallies to beat East Carolina 54-46

LAS VEGAS (AP) Marcus Johnson Jr. scored 13 points and made all six of his free throws and Little Rock rallied to beat East Carolina 54-46 on Thursday at the Las Vegas Invitational to win its fourth straight.

Josh Hagins scored 11 points for the Trojans (4-0), who shot 20 of 24 (83 percent) from the free-throw line but just 26 percent from the field.

Trailing 23-15 at halftime, Little Rock went ahead 36-29 after 3-pointers by Kemy Osse and Johnson then pulled away on Hagins' 3 and Mareik Isom's layup with 7:42 left. B.J. Tyson's 3 pulled ECU within 54-46 with 28 seconds to go, but Johnson made four free throws to seal the win.

Prince Williams broke a 9-9 tie with a 3-pointer, Tyson hit another 3, and the Pirates led at halftime after a 14-4 run.

Tyson had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Pirates (2-3), who were hurt by 22 turnover

----------

Appalachian State rallies to beat Liberty 73-62

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Frank Eaves scored 18 points and made 10 of 13 free throws, Ronshad Shabazz added 17 points, and Appalachian State rallied to beat Liberty 73-62 on Thursday in the opening round of the Challenge in Music City.

Trailing by one at halftime, Shabazz hit a jumper to put Appalachian State ahead 41-40, and the Mountaineers led by 11 with 4:50 left after Shabazz scored five straight points. Eaves hit two free throws for a 12-point lead with 33 seconds left and the Mountaineers held on.

Chris Burgess scored 12 points and Jacob Lawson 10 for Appalachian State (2-3), which made 29 of 36 free throws (81 percent) and outrebounded the Flames 34-23.

There were four ties and three lead changes before A.C Reid put Liberty on top 34-33 at halftime with a 3-pointer with two seconds left.

Anthony Fields and Lovell Cabbil each scored 15 for Liberty (3-2), with Cabbil hitting 3 of 4 3-pointers.