UL Monroe rolls past Appalachian State 69-58
MONROE, La. (AP) Tylor Ongwae scored 14 points and dished out seven assists to help UL Monroe roll to a 69-58 victory over Appalachian State on Saturday for its sixth straight win.
Ongwae shot 6 of 13 from the floor. Majok Deng and Justin Roberson added 13 points apiece for UL Monroe (18-8, 12-3 Sun Belt Conference). The Warhawks have two win-streaks of six games in the same season for the first time since 1992-93.
UL Monroe built a 38-26 halftime lead, and stretched it to 58-41 with 8:43 to play and never trailed.
Jacob Lawson scored 16 points, and Tommy Spagnolo had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds to lead Appalachian State (9-14, 6-8), which shot just 19 of 55 from the floor (34.5 percent) and has lost four of its last five games.
It was the first ever meeting between the schools.
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Georgia State fends off Texas State, 53-41
SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) R.J. Hunter scored 17 points and Georgia State beat Texas State 53-41 on Saturday despite being without the Sun Belt Conference's leading scorer, Ryan Harrow.
Harrow, who missed the game with concussion-like symptoms, ranks 10th in Division I averaging 20.4 points per game. Georgia State is 4-0 this season without him.
Markus Crider added 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Panthers (17-8, 10-4 Sun Belt), who have won six of seven and posted the program's third-best record through 25 games.
Texas State (11-13, 5-10) finished with just 12 total field goals (29.3 percent), the fourth straight opponent Georgia State has held below 30 percent shooting.
The Panthers opened on a 14-5 run and never trailed in the game, extending their lead to as many as 15 in the second half.
Emani Gant had 13 points to lead the Bobcats.
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Georgia Southern rallies to beat UALR, 72-70 in OT
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Jelani Hewitt made three late free throws, and hit a 3 in overtime to lead Georgia Southern in a come-from-behind 72-70 victory over UALR on Saturday night.
Down nine points with 4:52 left in regulation, Hewitt capped the Eagles' comeback when he pump faked a 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining, drawing a foul from Josh Hagins. He then sank all three free throws to force overtime.
The Eagles had possession and a 72-70 lead with 4 seconds left before Hagins stole the ball from Hewitt, but had the ball immediately stripped away. Curtis Diamond then missed a pair of free throws, leaving the door open for the Trojans.
James Reid was knocked down while shooting a 3, but missed and didn't draw the foul to end it.
Hewitt scored 21 points for Georgia Southern (18-5, 10-3 Sun Belt Conference).
Reid led UALR (10-15, 5-10) with a career-high 23 points.
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Williams scores 29, South Alabama tops UT Arlington 97-91
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) Ken Williams finished with a career-high 29 points and eight rebounds and five assists, including six 3-pointers to lead South Alabama to a 97-91 win over UT Arlington on Saturday.
Georgi Boyanov had 17 points and five rebounds, Taishaun Johnson had 16 points, including an 11 of 16 mark from the free throw line, and John Brown had 12 for South Alabama (9-17, 7-8 Sun Belt). The Jaguars assisted on 17 of their 27 made baskets, despite 20 turnovers.
Lonnie McClanahan finished with 20 points, Erick Neal had 16, including four 3s and Kevin Hervey had 12 points and 10 rebounds for UT Arlington (14-10, 8-6).
The Jaguars carried a 20-point lead into the second half, but an 11-0 run near midway through the second half cut the lead to single digits. Under a minute left, Johnson and Brown made three free throws apiece to hold on.
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UL Lafayette survives in OT at Troy 84-80
TROY, Ala. (AP) Jay Wright scored four straight points in the final two minutes of overtime and Shawn Long added 3 of 4 free throws in the final 14 seconds of UL Lafayette's 84-80 win over Troy on Saturday.
Wright's second consecutive field goal gave UL Lafayette an 81-80 lead with 58 seconds left in overtime. Long made 1 of 2 free throws with 13.6 seconds left and Devonta Walker drew an offensive foul against Kevin Thomas with 6.1 seconds left. Troy sent Long back to the foul line with 4.9 seconds where he capped the scoring by sinking both.
Long and Wright had 17 and 16 points, respectively, to lead five Cajuns (14-12, 8-7 Sun Belt) in double figures.
Troy (9-15, 4-11) trailed 73-65 with 1:30 left in regulation but forced four turnovers while Chris Bilbo scored seven straight points to spark the rally that forced overtime. Bilbo finished with a career-high 21 points.