UALR 69, SOUTH ALABAMA 60

UALR overcame an 11-0 deficit to start the game before pulling away for a 69-60 victory Wednesday night in its Sun Belt Conference opener at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala.

Despite falling behind early, the Trojans (11-1, 1-0 SBC) used first-half runs of 14-3 and 13-3 to build a 34-30 halftime lead.

Josh Hagins, whose three-pointer with 14:40 left in the first half ended the Jaguars' early 11-0 run, led UALR with 17 points behind 3 three-pointers. Jalen Jackson came off the bench to score 11 points, while Roger Woods and Lis Shoshi added nine points each.

The Trojans had just eight turnovers, while their defense forced South Alabama (5-7, 0-1) into 13. UALR forced the Jaguars into nine consecutive missed shots and held the hosts without a field goal for more than nine minutes in the second half.

The Trojans finished with a 30-18 advantage scoring in the lane and outscored the Jaguars 17-10 at the free-throw line.

UALR shot 41.8 percent from the floor compared to 35.1 percent from South Alabama. The Trojans limited the Jaguars to 9-of-30 shooting (.300) after halftime.

ARKANSAS STATE 84, TROY 81

Arkansas State erased a 12-point second-half deficit to rally past Troy in the Sun Belt Conference opener Wednesday at Trojans Arena in Troy, Ala.

The Red Wolves (5-7, 1-0 SBC) were led by Donte Thomas' 20 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds and Anthony Livingston who had 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

The Red Wolves trailed 62-50 with 12:27 remaining but rallied to tie the game at 73-73 with 4:09 left. Troy regained a four-point advantage to lead 77-73, but the Red Wolves came back with an 11-3 run to lead 84-80 before the Trojans hit one of two free throws with one second remaining.

Devin Carter added 15 points, and Charles Waters chipped in a career-high 10 points for the Red Wolves.

Wesley Person led Troy (5-7, 0-1) with 20 points, while four other Trojans had 10 or more points.

SUN BELT WOMEN

UALR 47, SOUTH ALABAMA 34

The UALR women used balanced scoring and a 9-0 run to start the third quarter to snap a five-game losing streak with a victory over South Alabama on Wednesday in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both schools at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala.

Both teams started slowly, and the game was tied 5-5 midway through the first quarter. UALR (3-7, 1-0 Sun Belt) then went on a 12-2 run over the next three minutes, keyed by fast break layups by Alexius Dawn and Monique Townson, to take a 17-9 lead at the end of the quarter.

South Alabama (4-6, 0-1) came back in the second quarter, taking advantage of UALR’s cold shooting and outscoring the Trojans 10-4 to trail 21-19 at halftime. UALR missed its first 10 shots from the floor in the quarter and did not score until 2:30 remaining in the first half.

That set the stage for the Trojans’ 9-0 run to begin the third quarter. Dawn hit a three-pointer on UALR’s first possession, followed by a layup from Kaitlyn Pratt and baskets from Townson and Sharde Collins. UALR outscored South Alabama 15-5 in the quarter and led 36-24. The Trojans led by 16 at one point in the fourth quarter, and the Jaguars never got closer than 10 points.

Townson and Dawn scored nine points each, while Collins added eight, as UALR had seven players score. Taylor Jenkins led South Alabama with eight points.

ARKANSAS STATE 101, TROY 81

A tight game early turned Arkansas State’s way as the Red Wolves used a 13-4 run in the second quarter to take a lead they would not relinquish to win the Sun Belt opener for both schools at Trojan Arena in Troy, Ala.

The game’s first 15 minutes featured four lead changes and five ties, but Arkansas State (7-3, 1-0) held a 34-32 lead with 5:03 left in the first half after a layup by Troy’s Kristen Emerson. A threepoint play from Brittany Fowler keyed the run for the Red Wolves, who led 47-36 at halftime. Troy (5-5, 0-1) used a 7-0 run in the third quarter to cut the lead to 57-48, but Arkansas State would build a 14-point lead at the end of the quarter and was not challenged in the fourth quarter.

Arkansas State shot 54.2 percent (39 of 72) from the floor, including 40 percent from the three-point line, and hit 17 of 22 free throws. The Red Wolves outscored the Trojans 58-30 in the lane and 25-12 off turnovers, while holding advantages in second-chance points (19-17), fast break points (18-4) and points off the bench (37-27). Troy shot 35 percent (28 of 80) from the floor, including 30.8 percent (8 of 26) from the three-point line and 60.7 percent (17 of 28) from the free-throw line.

Amanda Lawson scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Red Wolves, to go along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Khadija Brown-Haywood added 15 points and 8 assists, while Jessica Flanery and Lauren Bradshaw had 12 points each. Fowler added a career-high 11. Claresa Banks led South Alabama with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Ashley Beverley Kelley scored 14 points for the Trojans.

Sports on 12/31/2015