UALR MEN’S BASKETBALL

Trojans, down 17 at half, lack rally

— UALR’s three game winning streak came to an abrupt end Sunday in the championship game of the Hoops for Hopes Classic.

The Trojans (4-3), who beat Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Jacksonville, Fla. in Little Rock last week, beat Southern Methodist Saturday night at the Puerto Vallarta Convention Center, advancing into Sunday’s final against South Carolina.

But early foul trouble limited two starters in the first half and poor shooting to start the second half contributed in a 74-62 loss to South Carolina.

Will Neighbour led UALR with a season-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting, but he picked up two first-half fouls and went to the bench after picking up his fourth foul with 18:46 left in the second half.

Leroy Isler added eight points, but he only played 20 minutes because of foul trouble.

John Gillon added 9 points on 3 of 6 three-point shooting. The Trojans made 5 of 16 three-pointers as a team, going 5 of 7 after missing their first nine.

By the time Gillon made UALR’s first three-pointer with 8:01 left, the Gamecocks (5-1) held a 59-37 lead.

UALR was within 14-11 with 12:18 left in the first half, but an RJ Slawson layup less than four minutes later put South Carolina up 25-14 and Mindaugas Kacinas’ three-pointer with :07 seconds left made it 39-22 at halftime.

South Carolina, which beat Missouri State in Saturday’s semifinal, outscored UALR 13-4 to start the second half, and Brenton Williams’ jumper with 14:29 left made it 52-26.The Gamecocks later led by as many as 27 points.

Williams made 7 of 7 shots from the field and led South Carolina with 17 points. La-Shay Page, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player, had 16 points.

Sports, Pages 13 on 11/26/2012

Upcoming Events