LITTLE ROCK — Steve Shields substituted freely as he opened his 10th season as the UALR men’s basketball coach Friday night with an 84-68 victory over Tennessee-Martin at the Jack Stephens Center.
But on a night when six Trojans were making their Division I debuts, none of the combinations seemed to work much better than the other for most of the first half.
Tennesse-Martin outscored UALR 9-0 on two occasions, and led by as many as five points with less than three minutes left in the first half.
But freshman guard John Gillon’s three-pointer from the wing sparked a 15-4 run to close out the first half and redshirt freshman forward James White scored 14 points in the first nine minutes of the second half to help UALR pull away in front of a crowd of 3,812.
Thirteen Trojans saw action, with 10 playing for at least 10 minutes, to make up a rotation Shields said could be common in the season’s early games.
“We’re not in a position right now to where we have a lot of separation,” said Shields, who played 12 players in the first half. “We’ve got so many new guys, I wanted to see what they can do in a game situation. ... There’s nothing like game experience.”
UALR (1-0) jumped to an 11-2 lead just over five minutes into the game using a starting lineup that included four returners - Ben Dillard, Taggart Lockhart, Will Neighbour and Michael Javes - and freshman point guard Josh Hagins.
But the Skyhawks (0-1) outscored the Trojans 9-0 totie the game at 11-11, then outscored the Trojans 10-0 late in the half to go up 29-24 with 3:08 to play in the half after two free throws by Bobby Jones.
That stood until Gillon’s three-pointer from the wing, which was followed by a turnover and Gillon making 1 of 2 free throws and a Lockhart three-pointer.
Tennessee-Martin got a three-pointer from Myles Taylor (Little Rock Hall) to pull within 34-32 with 58 seconds left, but Gillon hit another three-pointer, then a reverse layup off a steal that capped the run and the half with UALR leading 39-32.
White, a 6-8 forward who played in two games before suffering a knee injury last season and taking a medical redshirt, sparked a run to extend UALR’s lead in the second half.
His put back off a missed three-point attempt from Hagins gave the Trojans a 45-36 lead, and he scored on the next possession to stake the Trojans to their biggest lead to that point at 47-36.
White took a hard spill after a breakaway dunk in front of the UALR bench, but jumped up laughing before making two free throws to give the Trojans a 53-42 lead.
He finished with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting and had 6 rebounds, 4 of which were offensive.
“James has worked really hard to get where he is today,” Shields said. “He’s playing with more confidence with his added strength and he’s so active on the offensive glass.”
Gillon finished with a team-high 22 points on 5 of 11 shooting from the floor and he made 10 of 11 free throws.
Neighbour had 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Lockhart added 10 points, Dillard scored nine and UALR made 46 percent of its shots from the field.
“We just want everyone to get the feel of it,” Lockhart said. “When you have somebody come in off the bench hitting, you’re going to get some more playing time.”
Taylor scored the Skyhawks’ first 10 points of the second half and finished with a game-high 24 points. Jeremy Washington, also a Hall graduate, finished with 10 points for the Skyhawks.
SWAC
HOUSTON BAPTIST 72, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 68
HONOLULU - Marcus Davis scored 22 points to help Houston Baptist to a slim victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff in an opening game of the Rainbow Classic that was tied 11 times and saw the lead change 17 times Friday.
UAPB, which used only eight players, got 19 points from senior Terrell Kennedy, 14 points from Tevin Hammond and shot 51.5 percent from the floor in the second half.
Davon Haynes scored 13 points and had 12 rebounds and Lazabian Jackson added 12 points for the Golden Lions (0-1).
Houston Baptist (1-0) held a 45-39 rebounding advantage.
Sports, Pages 24 on 11/10/2012