UL Monroe knocks off Arkansas-Little Rock 86-82
MONROE, La. (AP) Majok Deng and Justin Roberson had 23 points apiece as UL Monroe knocked off the Sun Belt Conference's top team, Little Rock, 86-82 on Thursday night.
UL Monroe (12-12, 8-5) took a 17-15 lead at the 11:20 mark in the first half and never trailed again. Little Rock stayed close but could never catch the Warhawks.
Trailing 74-64 with 3:10 left Little Rock had a 7-0 run to close to 74-71 with 1:56 remaining.
Deng made a free throw, Roberson had a layup and Nick Coppola made two free throws as the Warhawks stretched the lead to 79-71 and coasted to the win.
Coppola and Travis Munnings had 11 points each for Louisiana-Monroe, which has won six of its last seven games and is in third place in the conference standings.
Josh Hagins had 19 for the Trojans (21-3, 11-2) who still lead the conference.
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Long leads UL Lafayette past Arkansas State 83-73
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) Shawn Long scored 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to help UL Lafayette beat Arkansas State 83-73 Thursday night for its ninth-straight win.
Long posted his 69th career double-double. It's the Ragin' Cajuns longest win streak since 2010-11 when they won 11 straight.
Kasey Shepherd finished with 16 points and Jonathan Stove added 15 for UL Lafayette (14-8, 10-3 Sun Belt).
Arkansas State (11-13, 7-6) has now dropped six of its last nine games.
Devin Carter's layup with 17:20 left gave the Red Wolves a 50-41 lead. But the Ragin' Cajuns responded with an 18-9 run and tied it at 59 with Stove's layup. Stove followed with two free throws and UL Lafayette never trailed again.
Elijah McGuire and Jay Hedgeman hit back-to-back 3s for a 69-63 lead with 7:42 to play.
Frederic Dure finished with 21 points for the Red Wolves. Anthony Livingston added 15 and Nouhoum Bocoum scored 14.
UL Lafayette had a 41-30 rebounding advantage.
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South Alabama tops Georgia State in overtime 79-78
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) Ken Williams scored 27 points and Nick Stover's 3-pointer in overtime helped South Alabama top Georgia State 79-78 on Thursday night.
Williams' 3-point play with 37 seconds left in overtime put South Alabama up 76-75. Isaiah Williams drilled a 3-pointer on the next possession to flip the lead, but the Jaguars responded with Stover's 3-pointer to make it 79-78. Tafari Whittingham then blocked Isaiah Williams' layup attempt, and Georgia State missed two jumpers in the waning seconds.
South Alabama led by one with 1:40 left in regulation, but Georgia State's Kevin Ware (15 points) made 1 of 2 from the line to tie it with 11 seconds to prompt overtime. Neither team hit a bucket in the last four minutes of regulation.
Stover finished with 14 points for South Alabama (10-14, 5-8 Sun Belt). Georgi Boyanov had 11 points and Whittingham ended with 10.
Georgia State (13-9, 6-7 Sun Belt) was led by Jeremy Hollowell with 22 points.
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Georgia Southern downs Troy 77-71 behind Brown's 20 points
TROY, Ala. (AP) Tookie Brown scored 20 points and made all 11 of his free throws to lead Georgia Southern to a 77-71 win over Troy on Thursday night.
Mike Hughes added 14 points with eight rebounds and three steals and the Eagles (11-12, 7-6 Sun Belt) made 20 of 24 free throws. Jake Allsmiller hit three 3-pointers and Montae Glenn and Jonathan Sanks scored nine apiece.
Trailing 36-28 at halftime, Troy closed to within 46-40 on John Walton III's dunk with 11:46 to play in the second half, then trailed by four, 71-67, on his putback with 40 seconds left.
Troy began fouling and Brown and Hughes combined make six free throws in the final 39 seconds to seal the win.
Walton scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Troy (7-17, 2-11). Shawn Hopkins added 18 points with 10 boards, both season highs, and Wesley Person had 16 points.
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Gant's career high helps Texas State top Appalachian State 69-68
SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) Emani Gant scored a career-high 26 points - including the game-clinching free throws - and hauled down 12 rebounds as Texas State escaped a close game with Appalachian State 69-68 on Thursday night, breaking a five-game skid.
The 6-foot-8 senior shot 10-for-16 from the floor and was a perfect 6-for-6 at the foul line, including a crucial pair that staked the Bobcats to a 69-66 lead with 25 seconds left.
Jacob Lawson pulled Appalachian State to within 69-68 with 16 seconds left and Texas State (10-12, 4-9 Sun Belt) survived when Kavin Gilder-Tilbury turned the ball over only to have App State's Ronshad Shabazz' 3-pointer for the win just miss at the buzzer. Shabazz shot with a hand in his face.
Frank Eaves led the Mountaineers (6-18, 4-9) with 13 points, Chris Burgess added 12 and Shabazz 11. Appalachian State has lost four straight games.