Box Score
Trojans pull off big win over SIU, 70-53
Dec. 7, 2004
Box score
UALR coach Steve Shields has said all season that
his team doesn't care who gets the credit, and the Trojans proved that on
Tuesday as eight players scoring and recording double-digit minutes in a
70-53 win over Southern Illinois.
UALR (4-3) was led by Richard Hardman's 18 points.
Zack Wright came off the bench to score 12 while Darius Eason and Brandon
Freeman hit for nine each.
A stifling UALR defense held Southern Illinois (4-2)
to just one Saluki in double digits, with Jamaal Tatum scoring 11.
Defending Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Darren Brooks, who
came into the game averaging 15.6 points a game, was held to just eight.
"This was a great win for our basketball program,"
Shields said. "This was our fourth game in eight days, and I'm proud of
our team effort."
UALR led by nine at the half, 34-25, but after a
three-point play by Joshua Warren less than two minutes into the second
half cut the lead to four, 34-30, prompting Shields to call a time-out.
Hardman then hit two consecutive baskets to extend
the lead to eight, and UALR eventually went up by 10, 42-32, on a jumper
by Freeman.
SIU's Mike Dale hit a jumper with 15:23 left
in the game to cut UALR's advantage down to eight, 42-34, but that was the
last time the Salukis trailed by single digits. Wright hit a pair of free
throws, Columbus Willis nailed a short jumper and Elijah Muldrow threw
down a dunk and the Trojans were up by 14, 50-36, with 11:31 remaining.
"The crowd tonight was tremendous," Shields said of
the 5,380 in attendance on a special Pack the House night at Alltel Arena.
"They got behind our team and were very vocal, and that gave our team a
huge boost."
UALR will now travel to Starkville, Miss., on Saturday
to play Mississippi State at 7 p.m. After that, the Trojans open a
five-game homestand, their longest streak of home games of the season.
