UALR Overcomes Halftime Deficit to Defeat Troy in Sun Belt Opener

Image © Mark Wagner 2012

LITTLE ROCK – UALR (5-3, 1-0 SBC) shot 57.9 percent and outscored Troy (4-4, 0-1 SBC) 30-to-23 over the final 20 minutes to win its Sun Belt Conference opener by a 58-56 final Thursday night at the Jack Stephens Center. Junior Will Neighbour reached double figures in scoring for the fifth-straight game and tallied his second double-double of the year with a 14-point, 11-rebound effort.

Both teams finished the game shooting below 40 percent from the field, but UALR was able to knock down 14-of-22 free throws, while Troy finished the night just 2-of-2 from the foul line. UALR improved to 4-0 on the season when holding their opponents to fewer than 60 points and 4-1 when keeping opponents under 40 percent shooting.

UALR finished with four players in double figures for the third time this season. In addition to Neighbour’s 14, junior Leroy Isler finished with 12 points, while sophomore Taggart Lockhart and freshman James White chipped in 11 and 10, respectively.

Image © Mark Wagner 2012

UALR won the battle of the boards, 38-to-36, to and led 15-to-8 in second-chance points. The Trojans grabbed 14 offensive rebounds in all, led by Neighbour (5) and Isler (3).

After Neighbour’s 11 boards, Isler finished with nine rebounds and freshman Josh Hagins grabbed a career-best seven boards.

Neither team was able to get much going from behind the three-point line. Troy finished the game shooting 27.3 percent (6-for-22) and UALR shot 26.7 percent (4-for-15) from long range.

Troy knocked down 48.3 percent (14-of-29) of its shots over the first 20 minutes and held UALR to just 27.3 percent shooting (9-of-33) in the first half to take a 33-28 lead into halftime.

Troy took a 14-12 lead on a three pointer by Hunter Williams at the 12:14 mark of the first half and went on a 17-9 run over the next nine and half minutes to lead by 10, 31-21, with 2:43 left in the half. UALR answered by ending the half on a 7-2 run that began with a three pointer by freshman John Gillon and ended with two free throws by Lockhart to cut the deficit to five at intermission.

Image © Mark Wagner 2012

UALR tied the score at 47 on a putback by Neighbour at the 7:56 mark, and took its first lead since the 13:10 mark of the first half on another bucket by Neighbour with 1:05 left in the game. A pair of free throws by Gillon put UALR up four, 57-53, with 0:32 left on the clock, but Troy pulled within one on a trey by Williams with 0:10 remaining. Hagins knocked down one of two at the line to put UALR back up two, 58-56, and Troy’s Deonata Jethroe missed a three pointer at the end of regulation that would have given Troy the lead.

UALR returns to action when it hosts ULM in another men’s and women’s doubleheader on Saturday. The women’s game is set for 4:30 p.m., while the men are scheduled to tip at 7 p.m.

Official Basketball Box Score

Official Basketball Box Score
Troy vs UALR
11/29/12 7:30 p.m. at Little Rock, Ark. (Jack Stephens Center)

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VISITORS: Troy 4-4, 0-1 SBC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
01 Myers, Antoine...... *  2-4    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   4  2  2  0  0  22
10 Jones, Emil......... *  5-10   0-1    0-0    1  2  3   2  10  1  1  1  1  27
11 Williams, Hunter.... *  4-11   3-7    0-0    0  2  2   2  11  7  2  0  0  38
15 Jethroe, Deonata.... *  2-8    1-3    0-0    0  4  4   2   5  2  0  0  1  22
34 Chambers, Ray....... *  4-8    0-0    0-0    7  4 11   3   8  0  0  0  0  32
00 Scott, R.J..........    1-6    1-6    0-0    0  2  2   2   3  1  1  0  0  13
03 Mullahey, Jeff......    1-1    1-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   3  0  0  1  0   9
05 Wright, Justin......    2-7    0-2    2-2    1  4  5   2   6  0  2  0  0  18
22 Calhoun, Tevin......    2-4    0-2    0-0    2  1  3   0   4  0  0  0  0  11
32 Warren, Josh........    1-4    0-0    0-0    3  1  4   4   2  0  1  1  0   8
   TEAM................                         1  1  2             2
   Totals..............   24-63   6-22   2-2   15 21 36  18  56 13 11  3  2 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-29 48.3%   2nd Half: 10-34 29.4%   Game: 38.1%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-14 21.4%   2nd Half:  3-8  37.5%   Game: 27.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-2  100 %   2nd Half:  0-0   0.0%   Game: 100 %    0

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HOME TEAM: UALR 5-3, 1-0 SBC
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
33 White, James........ f  4-6    0-0    2-2    2  2  4   1  10  1  0  1  0  23
44 Javes, Michael...... f  0-3    0-0    0-2    2  0  2   0   0  0  2  0  0  11
53 Neighbour, Will..... f  5-13   0-3    4-6    5  6 11   1  14  2  0  0  1  38
02 Gillon, John........ g  1-5    1-4    2-2    0  3  3   2   5  2  4  0  0  26
13 Isler, Leroy........ g  4-10   1-3    3-5    3  6  9   2  12  1  1  1  0  35
03 Hagins, Josh........    2-6    1-3    1-2    0  7  7   1   6  2  2  1  1  23
05 Osse, Kemy..........    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  2  0  0  0   4
15 Billings, Stetson...    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   3
23 Lockhart, Taggart...    4-5    1-1    2-3    0  0  0   2  11  2  0  0  1  30
24 Dillard, Ben........    0-2    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  1  1  0  0   7
   TEAM................                         2     2
   Totals..............   20-52   4-15  14-22  14 24 38   9  58 13 10  3  3 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  9-33 27.3%   2nd Half: 11-19 57.9%   Game: 38.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-8  25.0%   2nd Half:  2-7  28.6%   Game: 26.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  8-13 61.5%   2nd Half:  6-9  66.7%   Game: 63.6%    5

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Officials: Dan Chrisman, John Hampton, Bert Smith
Technical fouls: Troy-None. UALR-None.
Attendance: 3492
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Troy..........................   33   23  -   56
UALR..........................   28   30  -   58

Points in the paint-TROY 24,UALR 18. Points off turnovers-TROY 10,UALR 12.
2nd chance points-TROY 8,UALR 15. Fast break points-TROY 4,UALR 0.
Bench points-TROY 18,UALR 17. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-5 times.
Last FG-TROY 2nd-00:10, UALR 2nd-01:05.
Largest lead-TROY by 10 1st-02:43, UALR by 4 2nd-00:32.