With his hand on his hip, UALR guard Solomon Bozeman trudged off the floor against Middle Tennessee after picking up his fourth foul Saturday.
Two minutes later, the Trojans’ leading scorer sat idle as the Blue Raiders capped a 18-3 run to start the second half and take an eight-point lead with 13 minutes left
UALR’s bench picked up the slack, scoring 24 points to help rally the Trojans to a 62-58 victory in front of 3,410 at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
“We knew we had to score,” UALR forward Gus Leeper said. “Solo or no Solo, we’d prefer to have him, but someone’s got to step up and people did.”
Freshman guard Daylon Guy hit two-three pointers during a 9-2 run over 90 seconds to pull UALR (15-14, 7-6 Sun Belt Conference) within 43-42 and stop Middle Tennessee (14-14, 9-6).
It was guard Matt Mouzy who put UALR ahead for good, hitting a deep three-pointer to make it 53-50 with barely five minutes left.
Guy and Mouzy combined for 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting, including five threepointers. Forwards Montrell Thornton and Eric Kibi added 13 rebounds off the bench for the Trojans.
“After Thursday night, it’s a must-win game for our guys,” UALR Coach Steve Shields said, referring to the Trojans’ last-second loss to Western Kentucky. “They showed great poise, even when we got down right there.”
Against Middle Tennessee, which forces a conferenceleading 18 turnovers per game, the Trojans committed just 12 turnovers and limited the Blue Raiders to two fastbreak points.
Unable to run, the Blue Raiders shot 38.6 percent for the floor and leaned heavily on its core of forwards Jason Jones and J.T. Sulton along with guard James Washington.
The trio combined for 46 points, led by Washington with 17 on 4-of-11 shooting - all from behind the arc. Sulton added 15 points but fouled out at the 2:45 mark.
“We didn’t turn them over the way we wanted to get ourselves in transition,” Middle Tennessee Coach Kermit Washington said.
ARKANSAS STATE 71, TROY 63
TROY, Ala. - Trey Finn had 15 points and eight rebounds to lead Arkansas State to a victory over Troy on Saturday night.
Brandon Peterson added 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Red Wolves (15-14, 9-5 Sun Belt Conference), who have won three of four. Troy (8-18, 6-8) had a threegame winning streak snapped.
The Red Wolves led 56-53 with 4:55 left, but they went on an 8-0 run, which was capped by Finn’s three-pointer, for a 64-53 lead with 2:31 left.
Levan Patsatsia’s three-pointer cut the deficit to 66-59 with 1:24 left. But Rashad Allison hit five consecutive free throws for a 71-62 lead with 27 seconds left.
Adam Sterrenberg added 13 points for ASU, which outrebounded Troy 49-25.
Vernon Taylor scored 17 points to lead Troy.
SOUTHLAND MEN
SAM HOUSTON STATE 70, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 62
CONWAY - Central Arkansas overcame a 14-point second-half deficit and put a scare in Sam Houston State on Saturday afternoon before falling in front of an announced crowd of 1,151 the Farris Center.
UCA (5-20, 1-11 Southland Conference) tied the game at 62-62 on Mike Pouncy’s driving layup with 2:00 left. But the Bearkats (14-11, 7-5) went 8 for 8 from the free-throw line after that to seal the victory.
Tadre Sheppard led the Bears with 16 points, hitting 6 of 7 from the field. Pouncy added 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Dewan Clayborn had 10.
Gilberto Clavell finished with 22 points and six rebounds for the Bearkats.
SWAC MEN
TEXAS SOUTHERN 71, UAPB 68
HOUSTON - Lawrence Johnson-Danner scored 15 points and Texas Southern (14-10, 12-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff (6-20, 6-8).
Travele Jones and Justin Ray scored 14 points each for the Tigers, who are in first place in the SWAC. Texas Southern has won six in a row.
Allen Smith had 23 points to lead UAPB, including seven three-pointers. The Golden Lions hit 13 of 25 from three-point range. Daniel Broughton added 13 points.
SUN BELT WOMEN
ARKANSAS STATE 83, TROY 69 (OT)
TROY, Ala. - NeNe Hurst had 28 points and nine rebounds as Arkansas State (14-13, 7-7 Sun Belt) outscored Troy (5-22, 2-12) 16-2 in the overtime period at Sartain Hall to earn the road victory.
Meghan Lewis had 21 points. Quinishia McDowell and Shay Scott each had 13 points for ASU, which shot 50.8 percent and hit nine three-pointers.
Donette McNair led Troy with 19 points.
SOUTHLAND WOMEN
SAM HOUSTON STATE 66, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 54
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Sam Houston State (15-11, 9-3) used a 16-2 run in the second half to put away Central Arkansas (15-10, 7-5) at the Johnson Coliseum.
The Sugar Bears led 42-39 with 8:27 left, but were held scoreless for 4:21 as the Bearkats took a 55-44 lead. UCA committed a season-high 28 turnovers.
Megan Herbert led the Sugar Bears with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Micah Rice had 17 points, including 12 in the second half.
Sam Houston’s Brittney Martin, the Southland Conference’s second-leading scorer behind Herbert, had 23 points.
SWAC WOMEN
TEXAS SOUTHERN 70, UAPB 61
HOUSTON - LaQuisha Slaton scored 30 points, but Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-24, 1-13 Southwestern Athletic Conference) couldn’t overcome a 17-point halftime deficit, falling at Texas Southern (5-19, 3-10).
The Lady Lions trailed 40-23 at halftime, shooting just 18.5 percent (5 of 27). They shot 32.1 percent (18 of 56) overall. Jenise Gentry added 14 points for UAPB.
NaDosha Strickland led Texas Southern with 18 points.
Sports, Pages 30 on 02/20/2011