UL Monroe beats UL Lafayette 67-55
MONROE, La. (AP) Tylor Ongwae scored 21 points, including three 3-pointers, and hauled in seven rebounds to lead UL Monroe to a 67-55 win over UL Lafayette on Thursday night.
Majok Deng added 16 points and Justin Roberson had 14 for ULM (17-8, 11-3 Sun Belt), which won its fifth straight to remain atop the conference standings.
Trailing by three at the break, ULM took the lead during an 8-0 bust late in the second half to make it 51-48 on a 3-pointer from Deng with 7:34 left. UL Lafayette (13-12, 7-7) quickly tied it again with a 3 from Brian Williams. The Warhawks scored five unanswered points to retake the lead for good, which they protected with 9-for-10 shooting from the line in the final minutes.
Shawn Long led UL Lafayette with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
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Georgia Southern clips Arkansas State, 65-60
STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) Jelani Hewitt scored 15 points, pulled down five rebounds, and dished out four assists to help lead Georgia Southern to a 65-60 victory over Arkansas State on Thursday night.
Trent Wiedeman finished 14 points on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting from the field and added six rebounds for the Eagles (17-5, 10-3 Sun Belt), who have won six of their last seven, bouncing back from a loss Saturday to Louisiana-Monroe. Curtis Diamond added 11 points and nine boards off the bench.
Leading by seven with 4:30 to play, Hewitt nailed a 3-pointer to give Georgia Southern its third double-digit lead of the second half, effectively ending any chance at an Arkansas State comeback.
Defensively, the Eagles forced 14 Red Wolves turnovers while limiting themselves to only eight. Overall Georgia Southern is third in the Sun Belt in turnover margin.
Nouhoum Bocoum had 18 points for Arkansas State (9-14, 4-10).
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UT Arlington tops Texas State 70-61
SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) Lonnie McClanahan and Greg Gainey combined for 12 of UT Arlington's final 16 points, and the Mavericks stayed ahead of Texas State 70-61 on Thursday night.
JaMarcus Weatherspoon knocked down a pair of free throws and then hit a jumper to pull the Bobcats within three, 56-53, with 7:04 remaining. McClanahan and Gainey answered with back-to-back jumpers, sparking an 8-1 run that Texas State could not overcome.
UT Arlington (14-9, 8-5 Sun Belt) held a 31-28 lead at the half and scored eight straight points early in the second to go up by 12 with 16:08 left to play.
McClanahan finished with 18 points and six assists, and Gainey had 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Drew Charles chipped in 12 points.
Emani Gant, Wesley Davis and Weatherspoon all finished with 12 points apiece for the Bobcats (11-12, 5-9), who shot just 33.3 percent (20 of 60) overall.
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Hagins leads UALR's late push past Appalachian State 79-74
BOONE, N.C. (AP) Josh Hagins had 14 points, four rebounds and six assists on Thursday night and UALR shot 58 percent from the field to beat Appalachian State 79-74.
Hagins scored eight points in the final five minutes to help the Trojans (10-14, 5-9 Sun Belt) extend a three-point lead to 75-67 on Roger Woods' dunk with 54 seconds to go.
Chris Burgess was 5 of 8 from 3-point range with 24 points for Appalachian State (9-13, 6-7). The Mountaineers led 57-54 on one of Burgess' triples, but UALR answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from James Reid and Ben Dillard to take the lead for good.
Reid and Dillard finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively, and Maurius Hill added 12.
Burgess had 16 points in the first half and Appalachian State built an eight-point lead at 32-24 which UALR erased a 9-0 run before going into the break tied 37-all.
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South Alabama holds off Troy 71-67
TROY, Ala. (AP) Taishaun Johnson scored 17 points, Georgi Boyanov added 15 more and South Alabama edged Troy with a 71-67 win Thursday night.
Boyanov also hauled in 10 rebounds to get his third double-double of the season. Dionte Ferguson contributed 14 points to go with seven rebounds for South Alabama (8-17, 6-8 Sun Belt), which shot 49.1 percent on 55 attempts from the field to snap a three-game skid.
Trailing by three midway through the second half, the Jaguars took the lead for good during a 10-1 burst capped by back-to-back 3-pointers from Johnson and Ken Williams that made it 56-50 with 8:01 left.
Troy (9-14, 4-10) twice cut the gap to four in the final 1:17 but South Alabama protected its advantage down the stretch.
Kelton Ford led the five Trojans in double figures with 17 points.