UTA 72, Georgia Southern 67
STATESBORO, Ga. – The UT Arlington men's basketball team (9-11, 5-2 Sun Belt Conference) made a statement Thursday night against Georgia Southern (12-8, 4-3 SBC) as the Mavericks erased a 13-point 2nd-half deficit to knock off the Eagles, 72-67, inside Hanner Fieldhouse to move into 2nd place in the league and remain just one game out of first place.
Texas State 81, Georgia State 68
ATLANTA – In a matchup between the two top teams in the Sun Belt Conference, the Texas State men's basketball team (17-3, 6-1 Sun Belt) defeated Georgia State (14-6, 5-2), 81-68, at the GSU Sports Arena on Thursday night. Nijal Pearson scored 27 points to lead the Bobcats, who had three players score in double figures. Tre'Larenz Nottingham and Alex Peacock also score 13 points each for the Bobcats, who won their fifth straight game.
Coastal Carolina 72, Little Rock 71
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Zac Cuthbertson’s free throw with 1.3 seconds left in the game, gave Coastal Carolina a 72-71 road win at Little Rock. The Chanticleers held a 66-51 lead with less than eight minutes left in the game only to see the home-standing Trojans come all the way back and even the score at 71 on a three-point basket from Rayjon Tucker with less than a minute left. After a Coastal turnover and a turnover from Little Rock with seven seconds left, the Chants got the ball to Cuthbertson who was fouled on a three-point attempt. After hitting the first free throw, Cuthbertson missed the second and then missed the third on purpose giving the Trojans one last shot from beyond half court that missed its mark.
Arkansas State 82, Appalachian State 81 (ot)
JONESBORO, Ark. – Trailing by as many as 18 points in the first half, Arkansas State rallied to take a late lead in regulation before going on to claim an 82-81 overtime victory over Appalachian State in a Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball game Thursday night at First National Bank Arena. Playing their fourth overtime game of the season, the Red Wolves ran their overall record to 9-11 and Sun Belt Conference mark to 3-4. Appalachian State remained winless in league play with an 0-6 record and now stsands 5-14 on the year.
Louisiana 88, South Alabama 84
LAFAYETTE, La. – P.J Hardy and Cedric Russell hit back-to-back 3-pointers late in the second half to snap a 77-all tie and JaKeenan Gant continued his stellar beginning to Sun Belt Conference play as the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team earned a hard-fought 88-84 win over South Alabama on Thursday at the Cajundome. Jerekius Davis added 17 points as Louisiana (12-7, 3-3 Sun Belt) sank 12 3-pointers and evened its record in league play. South Alabama, which was led by double-doubles from both Trhae Mitchell and Jay Ajayi, dropped its fifth straight game to fall to 9-11 overall and 2-5 in Sun Belt play.
ULM 75, Troy 69
MONROE, La. – Travis Munnings and Michael Ertel scored 16 points apiece to lead ULM to a 75-69 victory over Troy on Thursday night. ULM (11-7, 4-2 Sun Belt) has won two straight. Troy (10-9, 3-4) has lost four of six since snapping its four-game win streak.