UALR’s grit wins it in end

Special to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette/CHRIS BRASHERS - 03/01/2014 - UALR forward Mareik Isom battles a pack of ASU Red Wolves at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, March 1, 2014

Special to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette/CHRIS BRASHERS - 03/01/2014 - UALR forward Mareik Isom battles a pack of ASU Red Wolves at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, March 1, 2014

Sunday, March 2, 2014

UALR went more than five minutes to start the second half without a basket.

Then James White scored two in 20 seconds, and the Trojans turned a seven-point deficit into a 74-67 victory over Arkansas State in front of a season-high crowd of 4,895 at the Jack Stephens Center.

White’s layup inside was followed by a dunk and then a three-pointer by Ben Dillard that erased ASU’s lead with 13:33 left.

The game went back and forth from that point, with 11 lead changes and six ties before UALR pulled away at the end.

White, who didn’t play in ASU’s 77-49 victory over UALR on Jan. 25 because of an ankle injury, scored 15 of his game-high 20 points in the second half and had eight rebounds as UALR outscored its in-state rival 19-11 over the final 5:12 to end ASU’s three-game winning streak.

“This is maybe the best he’s ever played,” ASU Coach John Brady said of White, who averaged 10.9 points before Saturday. “If he had had his normal game they wouldn’t have won, but he played outstanding and he was the difference in the game in my opinion.”

White’s baskets pulled UALR out of a five-minute funk that included six consecutive missed shots and two turnovers. White’s dunk pulled UALR to within 37-34 with 14:14 left and Dillard’s three-pointer tied the game at 37-37.

UALR’s game-tying spurt started a stretch in which it made 14 of 19 shots from the floor over the final 14:34 to pull away for its second victory in eight days after losing five games in a row.

Coach Steve Shields said his team’s unselfishness and ball movement were similar to what it was in Thursday’s victory at Troy, when UALR recorded 18 assists on 20 made baskets.

Josh Hagins had 2 points on 1-of-9 shooting but handed out 10 assists. UALR had 16 assists as a team while shooting 26 of 56 from the floor.

“I thought we did a good job of looking for James. It wasn’t just James, though,” Shields said. “I thought our guys found each other. We made some good plays in transition.”

UALR (14-15, 9-8 Sun Belt Conference), which played its second game in a row without leading-scorer Will Neighbour, who is out with a shoulder injury, chipped away at Arkansas State’s lead after one of ASU’s most inconsistent three-point shooters gave it a first-half lead.

Cameron Golden, a 31.8 percent three-point shooter on the season, made 3 three-pointers in 90 seconds - two from the right wing and one from the left - and ASU outscored UALR 14-1 to take a 29-22 lead with 4:19 left in the first half. Brandon Reed and Kirk Van Slyke also made three-pointers, and ASU (17-10, 9-6) was 6 of 11 while taking a 32-28 halftime lead.

“We just lost some guys in transition and lost some guys in the half court that we know we shouldn’t be losing,” said Dillard, who had 11 points.“All their guards can shoot the ball really well. We just ball-watched a little bit too much.”

Golden cooled off but finished with 15 points. Reed had 13 and Kendrick Washington had 11 for the Red Wolves, who made 1 of 13 three-pointers in the second half, missing their final five threes as UALR pulled away.

Melvin Johnson III, a 48.6 percent three-point shooter before Saturday, was 0 for 2 and finished with 4 points. Van Slyke, who has made 46.1 percent of his threes, was 1 for 4 and had 9 points.

“I can’t control the ball going in,” Brady said. “We can control, to a degree, who shoots it and from where. We didn’t have guys shooting it that are not used to making those.”

Reed made ASU’s final three-pointer with 8:34 left to give the Red Wolves a 48-46 lead. But DeVonte Smith, who had 10 points, drove for a layup to tie the game at 48-48 and White went streaking through the lane for a one-handed dunk on a pass form Hagins to make it 50-50 with 7:26 left.

White scored nine in a row over a two-minute stretch, and each time he scored he either tied the game or gave UALR a one-point lead. White’s final basket in the stretch gave UALR a 57-56 lead with 5:12 left and the Trojans never trailed again.

“Coach said to just try to bring positive energy and try to go hard on the post-ups,” White said. “My teammates fed me, so I just did what I had to do to help my teammates out.”Sun Belt men

THURSDAY’S GAMES

UALR 62, Troy 55

La.-Monroe 71, South Alabama 54

W. Kentucky 51, Texas State 50

Georgia State 77, Texas-Arlington 49

SATURDAY’S GAMES

Troy 61, La.-Monroe 46

Georgia State 66, Texas State 55

UALR 74, Arkansas State 67

Texas-Arlington 80, W. Kentucky 73

TODAY’S GAME

South Alabama at La.-Lafayette, 3 p.m.

TUESDAY’S GAME

Georgia St. at Arkansas State, 7:05 p.m.

THURSDAY’S GAMES

La.-Monroe at Arkansas State, 7 p.m.

Texas-Arlington at Troy 7 p.m.

Texas State at South Alabama, 7 p.m.

La.-Lafayette at Western Kentucky, 7 p.m.

Sports, Pages 21 on 03/02/2014