Long helps UL Lafayette top UT Arlington 90-75
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) Shawn Long scored 22 points, collected 12 rebounds and tallied six blocks, helping UL Lafayette to a 90-75 win over UT Arlington on Saturday.
Long was 6 of 10 from the field and made all 10 free-throw attempts. He notched his 14th double-double this season and 66th of his career for UL Lafayette (11-8, 7-3 Sun Belt), which has won six in a row.
Tied 42-all at halftime, the game remained tight for first nine minutes after the break. But Bryce Washington's 3-point play with 10:44 remaining sparked a 10-0 run for the Ragin' Cajuns to put them in front by 14.
Erick Neal scored 14 of his 20 in the second half for Texas-Arlington (14-6, 5-4), but the Mavericks were unable to avoid their third loss in a row.
UL Lafayette opened the game on an 11-0 run and shot better than 50 percent from the floor (54.2 percent) for the sixth straight game.
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Little Rock rides past Georgia State 63-53
ATLANTA (AP) Josh Hagins scored 18 points, and Lis Shoshi snared 11 rebounds - all on the defensive end - and Little Rock defeated Georgia State 63-53 on Saturday night.
Roger Woods added 16 points and Mareik Isom finished with 13 points for Little Rock (19-2, 9-1 Sun Belt).
The Panthers raced to a 12-5 lead in the game's first four minutes. But the Trojans erupted to outscore Georgia State 20-7 over the next 10 minutes. Isom's 3 with 5:30 before halftime made the score 32-19.
Georgia State then used a 9-5 spurt to cut its deficit to 37-28 at halftime. The Panthers continued their run in the second half, and Malik Benlevi's layup gave Georgia State a 44-43 lead with 12:34 remaining.
Hagins hit a 3 to put Little Rock back on top 48-46 for good.
Kevin Ware led Georgia State (12-7, 5-5) with 17 points, while Jeremy Hollowell and Benlevi finished with 12 and 10 respectively.
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Georgia Southern scores late 3s, beats Arkansas State 71-66
JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) Mike Hughes scored 21 points, Tookie Brown added 17, and both made key 3-pointers late to lead Georgia Southern to a 71-66 victory over Arkansas State on Saturday night.
DeVince Boykins made a 3 to stretch the Eagles' lead to 61-55 with seven minutes remaining. Frederic Dure made a pair of free throws, Anthony Livingston scored seven straight points and Arkansas State led 64-63 with 2:25 left.
Hughes and Brown answered with consecutive 3s and the Eagles regained the lead, 69-66, with a minute to play. Sean Gardner missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 16 seconds left, and Hughes made two free throws to seal it.
Ike Smith added 11 points for Georgia Southern (8-12, 4-6 Sun Belt Conference).
Gardner hit three 3-pointers and finished with 20 points to lead Arkansas State (10-11, 6-4). Livingston added 16 points.
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ULM gets 26 from Coppola, beats Texas State 72-59
MONROE, La. (AP) Nick Coppola scored a career-high 26 points and UL Monroe defeated Texas State 72-59 on Saturday.
Coppola made 11 of 17 shots for the Warhawks (10-11, 6-4 Sun Belt), who won their fourth straight game and are 9-0 at home. Majok Deng added 15 points and 10 rebounds for his 13th career double-double and Travis Munnings 12 points. ULM shot 51 percent, including 7 of 16 from 3-point range.
Kavin Gilder-Tilbury scored 14 points for the Bobcats (9-9, 3-6) with Cameron Naylor adding 12 and Emani Gant 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists. The Bobcats were only 4 of 16 from the arc.
The Warhawks never trailed but didn't have its first double-digit lead until a 7-0 run put them ahead 51-41 with under 14 minutes left.
Ojai Black scored five points to get the Bobcats within seven with 3:15 remaining but were then scoreless, missing their last five shots.
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South Alabama tops Appalachian State 73-60
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) John Brown had 13 points off the bench and South Alabama beat Appalachian State 73-60 on Saturday night.
Brown, a senior who averages 4.8 points, was 5 of 8 from the field and 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. Georgi Boyanov and Ken Williams both scored 12 points. Boyanov grabbed eight rebounds; Williams had seven boards and six assists. Nick Stover added 10 points for the Jaguars (9-12, 4-6 Sun Belt), who shot 50 percent overall and outrebounded Appalachian State 47-31.
The Mountaineers (6-15, 4-6) were led by Chris Burgess with 14 points, while Ronshad Shabazz added 10 points. Appalachian State shot under 32 percent and made 8 of 29 3-point attempts.
Appalachian State led by five at half, but had one basket in the first 9:49 of the second half as South Alabama built a 13-point lead. The Jaguars went up by 18 on Tafari Whittingham's jumper with 6:19 left.