Little Rock holds on to beat Louisiana-Monroe 58-57
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Lis Shoshi made a layup and Mareik Isom hit a jumper in the final minutes to give Little Rock just enough cushion to hold off UL Monroe 58-57 in Sun Belt Conference action on Saturday night.
Trailing 58-53 with 1:07 left, Louisiana-Monroe's Majok Deng made a layup and Justin Roberson nailed a jumper for the final scores. Deng missed a 3-point attempt and Roberson and Nick Coppola missed layups in the final seconds.
Shoshi was 4 of 6 from the floor for 10 points to lead Little Rock (14-1, 4-0), which is off to its best start in the program's history. Josh Hagins and Marcus Johnson Jr. had nine apiece and Kemy Osse, Jalen Jackson and Isom added eight each for the Trojans.
Deng, who averages 20 points a game, was held to 4-of-11 shooting from the floor for 15 points. Roberson led UL Monroe (6-9, 2-2) with 17 points.
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Brown's 3 late in OT lifts Georgia Southern over Troy 93-88
STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) Tookie Brown's 3-pointer late in overtime helped lift Georgia Southern over Troy 93-88 on Saturday.
Brown's 3 with 1:52 left made it 88-85. He hit two free throws with 12 seconds left to ice it. Brown finished with 19. Mike Hughes paced the Eagles (5-9, 1-3 Sun Belt) with 22 points, while Jake Allsmiller and Ike Smith had 16 points apiece.
Wesley Person led Troy (5-10, 0-4 Sun Belt) with 19 points, and Jordon Varnado had 18.
Georgia Southern led 51-36 at intermission, and held a nine-point advantage with 4:26 to go. Troy used a seven-point run - including Vardano's 3-pointer- to draw to within one with 3:11 to go.
Hughes made 1 of 2 from the line to make it 81-79, and then Person's jumper with 24 seconds left tied it. Brown missed a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining and the game went to overtime.
Both teams shot 53 percent or better.
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Arkansas State edges UL Lafayette 71-69
JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) Devin Carter scored 25 points and Sean Gardner sank the winning layup to lift Arkansas State to a 71-69 win over UL Lafayette on Saturday night.
Arkansas State (8-7, 4-0 Sun Belt) led by as many as 12 before UL Lafayette stormed back in the second half, edging into a 66-64 lead on Johnathan Stove's jumper with 3:41 left. The score tied twice more, at 66 and 68, before Frederic Dure got an offensive rebound to set up the winning bucket by Gardner, who was fouled and made it a 3-point play with eight seconds left.
Shawn Long missed a 3-pointer at the other end and Donte Thomas hauled in the defensive rebound to cement the win.
Thomas finished with 20 points and Gardner had 13 for the Red Wolves, who won their fourth straight.
Long led UL Lafayette (5-8, 1-3) with 25 points and 15 rebounds.
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Georgia State dominates South Alabama 70-55 in Sun Belt play
ATLANTA (AP) Jeremy Hollowell had 23 points and Kevin Ware added 20 to lead Georgia State to a 70-55 victory over South Alabama on Saturday.
Hollowell was 7 of 15 from the floor and made all seven shots from the line. Ware was 3 of 7 from long range and Isaiah Dennis dished out a career-high seven assists for the Panthers.
Georgia State (10-3, 3-1 Sun Belt Conference), which has won 14 straight games at home, took a 38-28 lead into the break. South Alabama's Don MuepoKelly hit a jump shot to close to 61-50 with 5:38 left. Isaiah Williams answered with a jumper and Ware nailed a trey to go up 66-50.
The Panthers, who won the last two conference regular season titles, have won seven of their last eight games.
Georgi Boyanov led South Alabama with 16 points and nine rebounds. Nick Stover added 12 points for the Jaguars (6-9, 1-3).
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Appalachian State routs Texas State 76-56 behind Eaves
BOONE, N.C. (AP) Frank Eaves scored 30 points to lead Appalachian State to its first Sun Belt Conference win of the season in a convincing 76-56 victory over Texas State on Saturday.
Eaves registered his career-high 31 points in a win against Texas State in San Marcos, Texas last year. On Saturday, Eaves scored seven of Appalachian State's first 20 points as the Mountaneers raced to a 20-7 lead with 11:22 to play before the half.
Ronshad Shabazz scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half as Appalachian State (3-12, 1-3) built a 42-26 lead at the break.
Tyrell Johnson's thunderous dunk with 11:23 remaining pushed the Mountaineers lead to 55-35.
Cameron Naylor led Texas State (7-5, 1-2) with 14 points and Kavin Gilder-Tilbury finished with 13.
Emarius Logan added 11 points for the Mountaineers.
Appalachian State held a 43-30 rebounding edge against the Bobcats.