Georgia State knocks Louisiana from Sun Belt unbeaten ranks
ATLANTA -- Jordan Session and D'Marcus Simonds scored 22 points apiece as Georgia State knocked Louisiana from the unbeaten ranks of the Sun Belt Conference, upsetting the Ragin' Cajuns 106-92 on Thursday night.

Georgia State (19-6, 10-2) has now won ten straight but still trails Louisiana (20-4, 10-1) by half a game in the standings. Louisiana had won 10 in a row before running into the Panthers, who took a 51-45 lead into the break and never trailed in the second half. Georgia State pushed its advantage to 89-69 with 6:53 remaining, and won the second half 55-47.

Session was 10 of 14 from the floor. Simonds had nine rebounds while dishing out eight assists. Devin Mitchell added 20 points, hitting 5 of 9 from deep, Jeff Thomas had 18 points and Malik Benlevi chipped in 13 while grabbing 12 rebounds.

The Panthers shot 54 percent (37-68) while holding Louisiana to 30-of-70 shooting (43 percent).
Frank Bartley IV led the Ragin' Cajuns with 21 points. JaKeenan Gant added 18 points and Marcus Stroman had nine points with 15 assists.

McDaniel's late 3 helps ULM get 66-64 OT win
STATESBORO, Ga. -- Sam McDaniel drilled a trey in the final seconds of overtime and Louisiana-Monroe slipped past Georgia Southern 66-64 in Sun Belt Conference play on Thursday night.

McDaniel, who finished with 23 points, split a pair of free throws to complete the scoring. Georgia Southern's Ike Smith tried to answer McDaniel's 3-pointer with four seconds remaining, but missed and McDaniel grabbed the rebound.

The teams swapped the lead throughout the second half until a Smith dunk gave Georgia Southern a 57-56 lead with 2:48 left in regulation. Jake Allsmillter added one free throw for a 58-56 advantage. Michael Ertel responded with a layup with 11 seconds left to send it into overtime.

Travis Munnings had 26 points and a career-best 20 rebounds to lead the Warhawks (10-12, 4-7).

McDaniel, who was 6 of 11 from beyond the arc, also pulled down nine rebounds.

Smith and Allsmiller had 15 points apiece for Georgia Southern (16-9, 7-5).

Mitchell has 19; South Alabama beats Little Rock, 73-56
Mitchell had a career-high 19 points and Josh Ajayi added 16 as South Alabama ran away from Little Rock in the second half for a 73-56 win on Thursday night to halt a three-game losing skid.

Herb McGee added 10 points and John Pettway had eight points with four assists for South Alabama (12-12, 5-6 Sun Belt Conference).

Pettway nailed a 3-pointer to close out the first half with the Jaguars leading 34-30. Mitchell opened the second period with a trey that started a 12-2 surge for a 46-32 advantage early in the second half. South Alabama pushed the lead to 65-48 with 6:33 remaining and coasted to the win.

The Jaguars, who won the second half 39-26, shot 60 from the floor in that period. They finished with 28-of-55 shooting (51 percent) while limiting Little Rock to 42 percent (21-50).

Cameron Corcoran had 12 points to lead the Trojans (5-20, 2-10) who have lost seven straight.

Person, Varnado help Troy post overtime win
TROY, Ala. -- Wesley Person scored 24 points, including two 3-pointers late in regulation, and Jordon Varnado scored six of his 18 points in overtime to lead Troy to an 89-83 victory over Arkansas State on Thursday night.

Person hit a 3-pointer with 1:06 left in regulation to get the Trojans within three and tied it with another trey with 15 seconds left. Javan Johnson blocked a shot at the rim by the Red Wolves' Tamas Bruce, who then missed the putback at the buzzer to send the game to overtime tied at 78.

Varnado added 13 rebounds and Alex Hicks also had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds for Troy (11-13, 5-6 Sun Belt).

Ty Cockfield scored a career-high 31 points to lead the Red Wolves (9-16, 4-8) with Deven Simms adding 16 points and 11 rebounds.