Brown's late jumpers give Georgia Southern 4th straight win
BOONE, N.C. -- Tookie Brown hit two straight jumpers in the final minutes as Georgia Southern rallied to beat Appalachian State 60-59 on Saturday for its fourth straight Sun Belt Conference win.
Trailing 57-56, Brown hit a jump shot for a 58-57 lead. He made the game-winning shot with 56 seconds left. Isaac Johnson answered with a layup with 39 seconds remaining. The game ended on Ronshad Shabazz's missed 3-point attempt that would have won the game for the Mountaineers.
Brown, who drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat Little Rock 72-69 last Saturday, had 21 points, three assists and two steals. Mike Hughes added 12 points and Montae Glenn chipped in eight with eight rebounds for Georgia Southern (14-5, 5-1).
Appalachian State was up 25-21 at the break and led 46-34 with 12:28 remaining. The Eagles rallied to take a 52-51 lead after Quan Jackson's dunk with 5:57 left.
Shabazz had 17 points for the Mountaineers (8-11, 3-3).
Georgia State pulls away for 72-58 win over Coastal Carolina
CONWAY, S.C. -- Devin Mitchell scored 15 points, Malik Benlevi added 14 more to go with 11 rebounds and Georgia State cruised to its fourth-straight victory with a 72-58 win over Coastal Carolina on Saturday.
Benlevi sank four 3-pointers, missing just two of his shots from the field, and hit both free throws while dominating on defense with 10 of his 11 boards for his second double-double of the season. D'Marcus Simonds had 13 points, marking his 36th straight game in double figures, and Jordan Session and Jeff Thomasscored 11 points each for Georgia State (13-6, 4-2 Sun Belt).
After a close first half, the Panthers broke it open with a 15-0 run early in the second half to push the lead to 54-36 with less than 12 minutes to go. Thomas had two of his three 3-pointers in the breakaway run and, with the exception of a 10-second gap midway through the period, Georgia State protected the double-digit advantage the rest of the way.
Coastal Carolina's Artur Labinowicz scored a career-high 32 points, including six of the Chanticleers' seven 3-pointers. Jaylen Shaw added 10 points and Demario Beck hauled in 12 rebounds.
Hicks has career night, Troy gets 1st Sun Belt win, 79-64
MOBILE, Ala. -- Alex Hicks had a career night with 30 points and 16 rebounds to lead Troy to its first Sun Belt Conference win 79-64 over South Alabama on Saturday.
Hicks, whose previous high was 28 points, also had four blocks and three assists for Troy (8-10, 2-3). Hicks hit 11 of 15 from the floor and made 7 of 8 free-throw attempts. Wesley Person added 13 points and Jordon Varnado chipped in 12 for the Trojans.
Troy trailed until Kevin Baker drove for a layup and followed with a 3-pointer for a 21-19 lead at the 6:25 mark of the first half. The Trojans never trailed again, taking a 37-31 lead into the break that they pushed to 61-48 with 6:51 remaining.
Rodrick Sikes had 18 points for South Alabama (9-9, 2-3). Herb McGee added 15 points and Kevin Morris had 14.
Peacock's only basket wins it for Texas State 72-70
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Alex Peacock made his only field goal count, hitting a long, buzzer-beating jumper to lift Texas State to a 72-70 victory over Little Rock on Saturday night.
Peacock's winner came after Little Rock (5-14, 2-4 Sun Belt) tied the game after scoring on Andre Jones' 3-pointer with 14 seconds left and, after a Bobcats turnover, an Oliver Black dunk with five seconds remaining.
Tre'Larenz Nottingham scored 14 points with Immanuel King and Nijal Pearsonadding 12 each and Shelby Adams 11 for the Bobcats (12-7, 5-1), who have won five straight.
Jones finished with 19 points and Kris Bankston and Cameron Corcoran 14 each for the Trojans, who shot 58 percent but were outscored 18-8 on second-chance points.
Neither team led by more than eight with the Bobcats taking a 33-32 lead at the break. The lead changed hands four times and the game was tied five times in the second half.
UT Arlington dominates Arkansas State 97-71
JONESBORO, Ark. -- Johnny Hamilton had 19 points and Erick Neal added 18 as UT Arlington dominated Arkansas State 97-71 to even its record in Sun Belt Conference action on Saturday night.
Hamilton was 7 of 9 from the floor with eight rebounds and four blocks. Neal nailed 4 of 6 from beyond the arc along with four steals. Kaelon Wilson and Nathan Hawkins added 15 points apiece for the Mavericks.
UTA (12-7, 3-3) sprinted to a 54-31 halftime advantage and pushed the lead to 80-49 midway through the second half.
The Mavericks nailed 15 of 27 from distance, making 33 of 54 field goal attempts (61 percent) while limiting Arkansas State to 28-of-71 shooting (39 percent). The Red Wolves made just 4 of 19 from distance.
Deven Simms had 14 points to lead Arkansas State (6-13, 1-5), which has lost five straight.
Louisiana gets 5th straight Sun Belt win 82-48
LAFAYETTE, La. -- JaKeenan Gant and Frank Bartley IV had 12 points apiece as Louisiana continued its unbeaten streak in the Sun Belt Conference, thumping Louisiana Monroe 82-48 on Saturday night.
Marcus Stroman and Johnathan Stove had 10 points apiece as 11 Louisiana players put points on the board. Stroman also dished 10 assists and had five steals. Bryce Washington added eight points while grabbing 12 rebounds.
The Ragin' Cajuns (15-3, 5-0), who have won 11 straight conference games including last season, had their largest margin of victory against ULM. They have won 12 of their last 13 games, falling only to Clemson.
Louisiana was slow getting started, going scoreless over five minutes to start the game. The Ragin' Cajuns quickly righted that, taking a 33-15 lead into the break. They opened the second period nailing 9 of 9 from beyond the arc, hitting 14 of 31 from distance for the game.
Sam McDaniel led the Warhawks (7-9, 1-4) with 19 points.