NEW ORLEANS - Gus Leeper waited patiently near the free-throw line for an outlet pass in the final minute Thursday night.
When the junior forward caught it, he dribbled once, then sent a two-handed dunk through the rim that got his UALR teammates on their feet and put an emphatic exclamation point on UALR’s Sun Belt Conference Tournament opener.
UALR used a dominating 13-minute stretch Thursday, holding Troy without a field goal for almost 10 minutes, as it pulled away for a 74-61 victory in a first-round game at Lakefront Arena.
UALR (15-16) won its first game in the conference tournament since beating North Texas in the championship game three years ago, and it advanced to a quarterfinal game at 6 tonight against in-state rival Arkansas State.
“It feels good to move on, but we’re not satisfied,” said junior guard Ben Dillard, who played in UALR’s opening-round losses the past two years. “We want to go all the way, so we just have to keep going.”
UALR didn’t allow Troy (11-20) to make a shot from the floor for 9 minutes, 49 seconds in the second half. It held Troy, which shot 42.1 percent for the season, to 30.2 percent shooting and 6 of 22 from three-point range.
“Their calling card is their half-court, man-to-man defense,” Troy Coach Phil Cunningham said. “They really got into us.”
The game was tied at 44-44 after Kevin Thomas’ basket inside with 13:29 left, but Josh Hagins answered with a three-pointer from the top of the key to give UALR a 47-44 lead. Troy missed its next 15 shots from the floor and came up empty on 11 consecutive possessions.
Hunter Williams made a free throw during the game-changing stretch, but Troy missed tip-ins, layups, jumpers and three-pointers as eight different players missed shots. By the time Antoine Myers broke the drought with a layup, UALR had a 62-47 lead and only 3:40 remained in the game.
“I think the important thing is we stayed with what was working,” UALR Coach Steve Shields said. “We didn’t get complacent. We didn’t gamble defensively.We stayed solid for the most part.”
Shields cautioned his team all week about its recent habit of falling into early deficits. UALR did it again Thursday night when starter Leroy Isler, one of its best defenders, was limited to five minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, which led in part to Troy getting easy looks inside.
Kelton Ford’s driving layup capped an 8-0 run and gave Troy a 13-5 lead with 14:25 left in the first half, but Hagins answered with a driving basket as UALR began to chip away at the lead. Two free throws by DeVonte Smith capped a 12-2 run that gave UALR a 21-12 lead with 7:18 left, and the game was tied 33-33 going into halftime.
Troy led once in the second half but stayed in it through the first 6 1/2 minutes when Tevin Calhoun’s three-pointer and an inside basket by Thomas tied it at 44-44.
“We just decided to get some stops,” said Hagins, who had 21 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. “With each stop we got more determined on the defensive end. We started playing tougher and harder and found a way to get stops.”
James White scored 14 points and had six rebounds while Dillard and Smith scored 11 points each as UALR maintained its offensive rhythm without leading scorer Will Neighbour, who missed his fourth consecutive game because of a shoulder injury. Smith had six assists and Mareik Isom came off the bench and accounted for 5 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists as UALR racked up 16 assists for the game.
UALR has had at least 16 assists in every game Neighbour has missed, including 16 in a March 1 victory over ASU.
“The ball has to move. It can’t stick,” Shields said. “That’s the way this basketball team has got to continue to play, where no one cares who gets the credit.”
Sports, Pages 19 on 03/14/2014