DENTON,
Texas
- UALR (14-9, 8-4 SBC) captured its third-straight win overall and earned the
season sweep of North Texas (8-14, 3-8 SBC) with a 62-57 win over the Mean
Green on Saturday at the Super Pit in Denton, Texas. After losing its first
seven true road games of the season, the Trojans have now captured back-to-back
wins away from the Jack Stephens Center.
With the victory, UALR maintains sole possession of
first place in the Sun Belt's West Division.
Junior Will
Neighbour and freshmen Josh Hagins
and James White led UALR with 11
points apiece. Neighbour rounded out his line with team highs in rebounds (6)
and steals (4). Junior Leroy Isler
added nine points and a steal.
UALR held North Texas to just 34.6 percent shooting
from the field (21-of-51) and 31.8 percent from three-point range (7-of-22).
The Trojans shot 41.2 percent from the floor (21-of-51) on the night and 46.2
percent from long range (6-of-13).
UALR's bench outscored the North Texas reserves, 24-0, led
by White's 11 and eight points from freshman John Gillon.
The two teams each committed 16 turnovers, and points
in the paint were knotted at 20-each.
Jordan Williams led the Mean Green with 22 points.
Roger Franklin added 20, and Tony Mitchell scored 13 and blocked three shots.
After UALR took a 32-25 lead into halftime, the two
teams traded buckets for the first four minutes of the second half. Trailing by
seven, North Texas scored nine-unanswered points capped by a Williams three
pointer to take its only lead of the second half, 37-35. After a called
timeout by UALR, Hagins answered with a long two that tied the game, and Gillon
sank a three from straightaway to regain the lead for the Trojans. A soft 10-foot
jumper by Neighbour made it three-straight buckets for UALR, and White added a
free throw to give UALR a 43-37 with 9:35 left to play.
A jump hook by sophomore Gus Leeper got the Trojans' lead to seven with 7:14 left, and after
a free throw by Mitchell cut the Mean Green's deficit to four, White scored
four-straight points to push UALR's lead back out to eight. Another bucket by
White with 3:01 left on the clock gave UALR a nine-point lead, matching its
largest of the game.
North Texas pulled within four, 67-51, on a three
pointer by Williams with five seconds on the clock, but Hagins made one of two
free throws after being fouled, and North Texas came up empty on its final
offensive trip.
In the first half, UALR and North Texas went back and
forth for the first ten minutes, with neither team gaining a lead larger than
three. After North Texas took a one-point lead, 17-16, on a trey by Williams at
the 9:21 mark, the Trojans went on a 10-2 run that included two treys by Hagins
to go up 28-19 with less than five minutes left in the half. North Texas
responded with a 6-0 run of its own to get back within three, but UALR scored
the last four points of the half to take a 32-25 lead into the locker room.
UALR returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 2 when it
hosts South Alabama in a doubleheader at the Jack Stephens Center. Tip-off for
the men's game is set for 7 p.m.