Little Rock loses big lead, holds off UT Arlington, 68-62
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) Josh Hagins scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Little Rock saw most of its 28-point halftime lead disappear, but held on to beat UT Arlington, 68-62 on Saturday night.
Little Rock used an 18-0 run to start the game and led 42-14 at the break.
Then the teams switched roles.
Drew Charles hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start the second half and Little Rock did not score for the first three minutes. Erick Neal hit a pair of 3-pointers that cut the Trojans' lead to four points in the final two minutes, but could get no closer.
Little Rock (17-2, 7-1 Sun Belt) finished 24 of 51 from the field, including 9 of 25 from beyond the arc.
Kennedy Eubanks scored 14 points and Drew Charles and Neal each added 12 for UT Arlington (14-4, 5-2).
The Mavericks shot 20 of 67 from the field and 9 of 38 from behind the arc.
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Naylor, Texas State beat Arkansas State 78-68
SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) Cameron Naylor scored a career-high 20 points and had nine rebounds and Texas State beat Arkansas State 78-68 on Saturday.
Kavin Gilder-Tilbury added 17 points and Ethan Montalvo made four of his five 3-pointers in the second half to finish with 15 for the Bobcats (9-7, 3-4 Sun Belt), who hit 9 of 15 3-pointers and led from the outset.
Sean Gardner scored 26 points, Devin Carter 19 and Anthony Livingston had 11 along with eight rebounds for the Red Wolves (9-10, 5-3).
Gardner's 3-pointer cut Arkansas State's deficit to one with nine minutes left but the Bobcats got consecutive 3-pointers from Montalvo and four free throws from Anthony Roberson for a 10-0 run and a 66-55 lead.
The Red Wolves cut their deficit to single digits five times after that but Texas State always answered.
The lights went out with a minute left and the game finished in dim lighting.
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Long reaches 2,000, UL Lafayette beats Troy 88-65
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) Shawn Long passed 2,000 career points and finished with 20 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks on Saturday night to help UL Lafayette beat Troy 88-65.
Long became the sixth player in school history to reach the scoring milestone, doing so on his first basket of the game. He also recorded his 64th career double-double.
The Ragin' Cajuns (9-8, 5-3 Sun Belt) took control in the first half with runs of 13 and 10 straight points. They went into the break leading 49-31 and Troy got no closer than 73-60 during the second half.
Bryce Washington had 16 points Jay Hedgeman added 12 points for the Cajuns. UL Lafayette shot 70.4 percent in the first half and finished at 57.1 percent for the game.
Jordon Varnado had 15 points to lead the Trojans (6-13, 1-7). Wesley Person added 11 and John Walton III and Shawn Hopkins each scored 10.
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UL Monroe rolls to 100-68 win over South Alabama
MONROE, La. (AP) Justin Robertson scored 23 points to lead all starters in double figures as UL Monroe rolled to a 100-68 win over South Alabama on Saturday afternoon.
Robertson finished with 9-of-12 shooting from the field for the Warhawks (8-11, 4-4 Sun Belt). DeMondre Harvey added 20 points, Majok Deng had 17 points, Jamaal Samuel had 14 points with 13 rebounds and Nick Coppola chipped in 13 points. The team had a 39-26 rebounding edge over South Alabama.
Robertson scored 15 points in the first half, including a pair of 3-pointers and a dunk, to help UL Monroe to a 39-29 lead at the break.
Coppola drained a 3-pointer early in the second half to extend the Warhawks lead to 61-44 with 13:07 to play and South Alabama trailed by double digits the rest of the way.
Ken Williams scored 14 points for the Jaguars (7-12, 2-6).
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