Troy comes back to beat UT Arlington 55-54
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) John Walton III had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Kelton Ford made two free throws with three seconds left to give Troy a 55-54 victory over UT Arlington in Sun Belt Conference play on Saturday night.
UTA's Greg Gainey nailed a 3-point jumper to take a 52-51 lead with 1:56 remaining in the game. Walton made two free throws to regain the lead with 49 seconds left. Lonnie McClanahan then went to the free throw line and made two to give UTA a 54-53 advantage with 20 seconds left. Kelton Ford was fouled as he drove for the basket and he made both free throws for the win.
UTA had a 32-22 lead at the half but could not hold off the Trojans who won the second half 33-22.
Wesley Person had 13 points for Troy (8-12, 3-8).
Gainey made 15 points and McClanahan added 10 for UTA (12-9, 6-5).
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Georgia Southern defeats UALR 76-61
STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) Jelani Hewitt scored 17 points with four 3-pointers and Angel Matias added 14 as Georgia Southern defeated UALR 76-61 on Saturday night.
Hewitt also added six assists for Georgia Southern (15-4, 8-2 Sun Belt), which maintains a slender hold on first place in conference. The Eagles dropped 12 3-pointers in 28 tries while UALR was just 6 of 22 from long range.
Curtis Diamond scored 13 for Georgia Southern.
Josh Hagins led Arkansas-Little Rock with 15 points - reaching double figures in six straight games - while Mareik Isom scored 10 points for the Trojans (8-13, 3-8). Hagins also hauled down seven rebounds.
The Trojans led 13-5 early and it took three straight 3-pointers - by Jake Allsmiller, Matias and Mike Hughes - for Georgia Southern to surge ahead 27-25 just before the break. Georgia Southern ended the first half on a 6-3 run and never trailed after.
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UL Lafayette tops Texas State 72-63
SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) Johnathan Stove scored 19 points and UL Lafayette topped Texas State 72-63 on Saturday.
UL Lafayette (12-10, 6-5 Sun Belt) used an 8-0 run midway through the first half to lead by as many as 16. Texas State got a 3-pointer from D.J. Brown and went on a 12-4 run - much of it coming at the line - and trailed by seven, 34-27, at halftime.
UL Lafayette increased the lead to 44-28 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Hayward Register - his only points of the game - early in the second.
Texas State erased its deficit over a six minute period with a 22-4 run, capped by a pair of Kavin Gilder-Tilbury 3-pointers which made it 50-48 midway through the second.
UL Lafayette responded and ran off 10 straight to go up 68-62 with 1:39 left.
Shawn Long had 17 points and 13 boards for UL Lafayette.
Gilder-Tilbury led Texas State (10-10, 4-7) with a career-high 20 points.
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Georgia State crushes Arkansas State, 74-43
ATLANTA (AP) Ryan Harrow scored 21 points, becoming the 19th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark, to lead Georgia State to a 74-43 victory over Arkansas State on Saturday.
Harrow accomplished the feat in just 54 games, second-quickest in school history behind Phillip Luckydo, who did it in 49 games.
Markus Crider scored 14 points and 11 rebounds and R.J. Hunter added 11 points and five steals for the Panthers (15-7, 8-3 Sun Belt), who have won four straight and six out of seven.
Hunter and Harrow rank first and second in the Sun Belt in scoring this season, and are the third highest-scoring duo across the NCAA.
Georgia State scored the first 10 points, led 34-18 at the half, and pushed their lead past 30 with 8:09 left.
Anthony Livingston scored 10 for Arkansas State (9-12, 4-8) and Cameron Golden and Sean Gardner added nine apiece.
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UL Monroe holds on to beat South Alabama 67-61
MONROE, La. (AP) Tylor Ongwae had a double-double, 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, as UL Monroe streaked to an early lead and then held on to beat South Alabama 67-61 in a Sun Belt Conference game on Saturday.
Majok Deng finished with 17 points and Nick Coppola added 15 for UL Monroe (14-8, 8-3), which never trailed.
The Warhawks jumped out to a 20-7 lead and were up 32-18 at the break. South Alabama fought back in the second half and closed to 45-42 when John Brown nailed a 3-pointer with 8:29 remaining. Justin Roberson answered with a three-point play and the Warhawks held on for the win.
UL Monroe is off to its best conference start since the 2006-07 season and is a half game out of first place in the Sun Belt.
Ken Williams had 23 points and Dionte Ferguson added 18 for South Alabama (7-15, 5-6).
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