Neal helps UT Arlington beat Appalachian State 71-67
BOONE, N.C. (AP) Erick Neal scored five of his 13 points in the final three minutes and UT Arlington pulled away and beat Appalachian State 71-67 on Thursday night for its seventh-straight victory.
Jalen Jones had 14 points to lead UT Arlington (12-2, 3-0 Sun Belt). Kevin Hervey chipped in nine points with 10 rebounds and three steals.
Hervey split a pair of free throws, capping a 5-0 spurt to give the Mustangs a 62-60 lead with 4:46 left. Ronshad Shabazz's jumper tied it at 62-all before Neal made 2 of 4 free throws and a 3-pointer to make it 67-62 with 39 seconds left.
Jake Babic answered with a 3, but the Mustangs made four more free throws to seal it.
Frank Eaves scored 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting to lead Appalachian State (2-12, 0-3). Babic had six points and four assists.
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Little Rock beats UL Lafayette, 77-57
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Roger Woods scored16 points off the bench to lead Little Rock to its second-straight win to start the Sun Belt season, a 77-57 win over UL Lafayette Thursday night.
The Trojans (12-1, 3-0 Sun Belt) returned home after earning road wins at South Alabama and Troy to open Sun Belt play to go to 7-1 in road games.
Bryce Washington got to the rim for a layup barely three minutes into the second half to pull UL Lafayette within four, 41-37, but Woods answered with two free throws and a layup of his own and the Trojans pulled away down the stretch.
Lis Shoshi and Marcus Johnson Jr. each scored 12 points for Little Rock and Josh Hagins added 11 points.
The Ragin' Cajuns (5-7, 1-2), the preseason pick to win the conference, got 16 points and 11 rebounds from Shawn Long and another 10 points from Jay Wright.
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Georgia State leads big early, hangs on to beat Troy 72-68
ATLANTA (AP) Jeremy Hollowell scored 22 points and opened the game with two of his four 3-pointers as Georgia State never trailed while defeating Troy 72-68 on Thursday night.
The Panthers (9-3, 2-1) punched the early lead up to 19-4 as Kevin Ware scored back-to-back 3-pointers - both on feeds from Hollowell who had four assists - and then Ware passed to Hollowell for a 3 and to Isaiah Dennis for a dunk.
Ware added 17 points with three 3-pointers and six assists. Isaiah Williams added 14 points.
Georgia State led 38-19 at halftime as Troy (5-9, 0-3) made just six of its first 24 field-goal tries. The Trojans came alive in the second half, shooting 15-for-30 from the field and closing to 62-57 with a minute left. Hollowell, Markus Crider and Williams made 6 of 6 free throws down the stretch.
Wesley Person led Troy with 21 points.
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Arkansas State grabs 68-65 OT win over UL Monroe
JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) Nouhoum Bocoum scored four of his 12 points in the extra period to help lead Arkansas State to a 68-65 overtime win over UL Monroe in Sun Belt Conference action on Thursday night.
Bocoum hit a jumper to give the Red Wolves a 65-56 lead with 1:02 left in overtime. UL Monroe's Majok Deng wrapped two 3-point jumpers around one by Nick Coppola to cut the lead to 66-65 with 14 seconds left. Deng missed his next trey and Josh Pierre grabbed the rebound to seal the win.
UL Monroe's Coppola hit two free throws in the final second of regulation, sending the game to overtime.
Donte Thomas had 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists to lead Arkansas State (7-7, 3-0). Sean Gardner also had 12 points and Devin Carter chipped in 11.
Deng was 5 of 11 from beyond the arc for 26 points for the Warhawks (6-8, 2-1).
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South Alabama beats Georgia Southern 64-58
STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) Ken Williams had 22 points and South Alabama beat Georgia Southern 64-58, holding the Eagles to a single field goal over the final 4:32 on Thursday night.
Tookie Brown's jumper at the 4:32 mark pulled Georgia Southern to within 57-54, erasing most of the 16-point lead that South Alabama (6-8, 1-2 Sun Belt) built early in the second half.
The Jaguars scored the next five and the Eagles (4-9, 0-3) went scoreless until Brown's free throws with 23 seconds made it 62-56.
Georgi Boyanov had 10 points and 10 boards for South Alabama. Nick Stover added 10 points and Tafari Whittingham grabbed 10 rebounds. Williams' 3-pointer early in the second half capped a 16-2 run that started before halftime to make it 41-25 for the Jaguars.
Ike Smith had 20 points and Brown scored 17 for Georgia Southern. Coye Simmons grabbed 10 rebounds in eight minutes.