Hall falls after shunning inside play

— Arkansas won the Battle, but Little Rock Hall lost its skirmish with Memphis White Station on Saturday night at Cirks Arena.

Sophomore guard Nych Smith scored 26 points, including seven in the final 6:34, as the Spartans pulled away from the host Warriors for a 59-53 victory in the nightcap of the second Battle of the Border.

Arkansas won three of Saturday’s five games and holds a 7-2 advantage in the series against the Memphis area teams, but the three-time defending state champion Warriors failed to hold up their end of the bargain against the run-and-gun style that White Station likes to employ.

“In the fourth quarter, we didn’t go to our bread-andbutter,” Hall Coach Jon Coleman said. “We like to use our inside play, but we got away from that tonight and it cost us.”

University of Arkansas signee Bobby Portis led Hall with 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Portis, 6-10, helped hold 6-7 forward LeRon Black, a Baylor signee, to 11 points. But the Warriors had no answer for Smith.

“For a sophomore, he’s very poised,” White Station Coach Jesus Patino said. “We took a chance on him last year to start him as a freshman so he could get some confidence. But I think he’s born with that type of stuff. In the big games, when we need him to make a bucket, he makes a bucket.”

Junior guard Gregg Easter added 11 points for Hall (3-2).

The game was tied at 38-38 entering the final quarter, but the Spartans (5-1) took the lead for good on two free throws by Smith with 6:34 to play.

The Warriors pulled within three points and had a chance to tie the game at 51-51 when Portis’ 21-footer rolled around the rim and fell out. Smith grabbed the rebound, drove the length of the court and made a spin move around a Hall defender for a layup that all but put the game away.

The first four field goals Hall made came from beyond the three-point line, helping the Warriors build a 12-7 lead. But the Warriors hit only 3 of their next 14 three-point attempts.

“We hit those first few shots and I think it encouraged our guards to become a little trigger-happy,” Coleman said. “It was case where they got caught up in the moment.”

“Sometimes you take a little gamble and see what happens,” Patino said. “We were in foul trouble and we’re not that deep with our bench. We were just trying to buy time and fortunately for us it paid off. ... I thought who ever could settle down the best at the end would win.”

Sports, Pages 27 on 12/02/2012

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