Box Score
Trojans fall to Southwest Missouri State, 64-51
Dec. 4, 2004
Box score
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- In UALR's game against
Southeastern Louisiana on Friday, the Trojan defense forced the Lions into
a nearly-nine-minute scoring drought in the second half. On Saturday, UALR
faced a seven-minute dry spell of its own and fell to Southwest Missouri
State, 64-51, in the championship game of the SMS PriceCutter Classic.
Zack Graber and Columbus Willis scored 11 each to
lead UALR.
"We shot 20 percent in the first half, and we were
down by three late," UALR coach Steve Shields said, though the Trojans
went into the break trailing 25-16. "We felt like we could start the
second half and get back into it. We got it down to eight, and I'm proud
of how our guys kept batting."
The Trojans cut the SMS lead to 29-21 on a free
throw by Brandon Freeman with 16:29 to play, and actually got as close as
seven, 30-23, on a jumper by Michael Pridgeon with 14:55 left. But that
was as close as UALR could get the rest of the game.
Neither team shot well to begin the game. Neither
team was in double figures until Southwest Missouri's Deke Thompson hit a
basket with 10:28 left in the first half. UALR didn't reach double digits
until Zack Wright's jumper with 5:04 remaining.
Wright and Elijah Muldrow scored eight each for the
Trojans, who shot 31.1 percent (14-of-45) from the field.
The SMS defense shut down UALR's normal offensive
weapons, as Freeman, the Trojans' leading scorer, and Darius Eason scored
one point each.
The Trojans return to Alltel Arena on Tuesday to
host Southern Illinois at 7 p.m.. In a Pack the House promotion, tickets
will be on sale for just $5, and are available at the Alltel Arena box
office or through Ticketmaster. For ticket information, call the UALR
ticket office at 565-UALR.
