South Alabama beats Georgia Southern with late run
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) Nick Stover had 16 points and sparked a late run to help South Alabama pull away from Georgia Southern for a 78-66 win on Saturday night.
Stover's layup with 5:42 left gave the Jaguars (14-7, 7-1 Sun Belt) the lead for good at 64-62 and started an 18-4 run to close the game. The Eagles (10-11, 3-5) missed their final 13 shots from the field over that stretch.
Ken Williams added 15 points and eight assists, and Nick Davis and Josh Ajayi scored 13 each for South Alabama, which maintained its one-game lead for first place in the conference standings.
Tookie Brown had 23 points to lead Georgia Southern (10-11, 3-5). Mike Hughes scored 11 and Montae Glenn added 10.
The Eagles took control from the midpoint of the first half until the midpoint of the second, including a 10-0 run that built their largest lead at 52-40.
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UTA overtakes Appalachian State 83-67
BOONE, N.C. (AP) Kevin Hervey scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead UTA past Appalachian State for an 83-67 win Saturday.
Kaelon Wilson added 15 points, while Jalen Jones and Drew Charles finished with 11 each for UTA (16-5, 6-2 Sun Belt Conference). Hervey was 8 of 15 from the field and marked his seventh double-double of the season.
The Mavericks took their first lead of the game on Wilson's 3-point play to go up 44-43 with 13:34 left in the second half. The lead traded twice more over the next three minutes before Jorge Bilbao sank a pair of free throws to put UTA on top for good, 50-48, and the Mavericks padded it down the stretch.
Ronshad Shabazz led Appalachian State (6-13, 1-7) with 33 points, including a career-high eight 3-pointers. Griffin Kinney had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Mountaineers.
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Texas State beats Coastal Carolina 52-50 on Pearson's shot
CONWAY, S.C. (AP) Kavin Gilder-Tilbury scored 18 points and Nijal Pearson's basket with 17 seconds remaining lifted Texas State past Coastal Carolina 52-50 on Saturday.
Colton Ray-St Cyr missed a short shot with three seconds left after the Chanticleers called timeout to set up a play.
Pearson's 3-pointer and a pair of free throws by Bobby Conley gave the Bobcats a 48-47 lead with 3:58 to go. Demario Beck responded with a layup to give Coastal Carolina the lead. Gilder-Tilbury's jumper made for a 50-49 Texas State lead and Shivaughn Wiggins tied it at 50 making 1 of 2 free throws.
Texas State (12-8, 5-3 Sun Belt) got nine points each from Pearson and Ojai Black, who was perfect shooting with four field goals and a free throw.
Elijah Wilson led Coastal Carolina (9-12, 4-4) with 16 points, Beck had 12 and Wiggins finished with 10. The two teams combined to shoot 38 for 106 (36 percent) from the floor.
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Arkansas State cruises to 73-63 win over ULM
MONROE, La. (AP) Rashad Lindsey scored 15 points, Connor Kern added 12 more and Arkansas State cruised to its fourth-straight victory with a 73-63 win over ULM on Saturday.
Donte Thomas contributed 10 points and dished out eight assists for Arkansas State, which sank 12 of 22 from long range. All of Kern's points came from behind the arc and Lindsey had three from distance.
Trailing by a point at the break, Arkansas State (15-6, 6-2 Sun Belt Conference) took control with an 8-0 run to open the second half, going up 40-33 with 16:06 left. C.J. Foster sank the go-ahead bucket during the run and Thomas converted a 3-point play.
ULM (6-15, 0-8) hit just 6 of 22 from 3-point range and has lost eight straight games.
Nick Coppola led the Warhawks with 19 points, Sam McDaniel added 15 and Travis Munnings 14.
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Simonds ties career-best 26, Georgia State wins 5th straight
TROY, Ala. (AP) Freshman D'Marcus Simonds tied a season-high with 26 points to help Georgia State win its fifth straight with a 78-72 victory over Troy on Saturday.
Simonds, averaging 11 points per game, has scored 24, 14, 25 and 26 in his past four games.
The Panthers went on a 7-0 run in the second half to push their lead to 10 at 67-57 with 3:50 left. But Wesley Person nailed an open 3-pointer in transition with 47.3 seconds left to get Troy within 74-70. Georgia State answered with two free throws by Jeremy Hollowell for a six-point lead.
Person made the margin four points again with 17 seconds to go until Isaiah Williams sealed it at the stripe.
Hollowell had 14 points and eight rebounds for Georgia State (13-7, 6-2 Sun Belt).
Person hit seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points for Troy (11-11, 3-5).
The Trojans made their final field goal of the first half at the 5:57 mark and were outscored 15-3 to close the half. Georgia State led 36-22 at the break as Simonds made 8 of 10 shots for 16 points.
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Bartley's 20 leads Louisiana over Little Rock, 88-82
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) Frank Bartley IV scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half to lead Louisiana to an 88-82 win over Little Rock on Saturday night.
It was the second time this season the Ragin' Cajun's have beaten the defending Sun Belt Conference champs. They rolled over them 69-52 on January 2.
Jerekius Davis had 17 points, Bryce Washington added 13 and Justin Miller chipped in 12 while grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out seven assists for Louisiana (14-7, 4-4 Sun Belt Conference). Jay Wright also had 12 points.
The Ragin' Cajuns hit 29 of 47 (62 percent) from the floor, nailing 10 of 20 from beyond the arc. Little Rock made 27 of 54 field goal attempts. Louisiana dominated on the boards, 32-19.
The Ragin' Cajuns led 80-58 with 4:39 left. UALR had a 24-8 run at the end.
Marcus Johnson Jr. led the Trojans (12-9, 3-5) with 26 points.