Box Score
Trojans avenge MTSU loss with 69-62 win
Jan. 15, 2005
Box score
Brandon Freeman and Zack Wright combined for 41
points as UALR avenged Monday's loss with a 69-62 win over Middle
Tennessee Saturday night at Alltel Arena.
The Trojans improve to 11-5 on the year and 3-1 in
the Sun Belt Conference. The Blue Raiders move to 12-5 and 2-1.
Wright -- who hit 11 of 12 free throw attempts --
came off the bench to lead all scorers with 21 points while Freeman scored
20. Richard Hardman grabbed 10 rebounds for the Trojans while Darius Eason
recorded a career-high five blocked shots.
"We knew we were going to face a grind-it-out game
tonight," UALR coach Steve Shields said. "We had really good intensity and
focus coming off of Monday's game."
Middle Tennessee handed UALR an 85-50 loss Monday in
Murfreesboro. Even with that loss, Saturday's win "capped off a great
week for us," Shields said, as his Trojans defeated Western Kentucky 69-66
on Thursday after the loss at Middle Tennessee.
"We had such an adverse situation on Monday, and our
guys' response to it was extremely positive. We played with an incredible
amount of energy and enthusiasm both tonight and Thursday."
UALR trailed Middle Tennessee just once in
Saturday's game, as Michael Cuffee hit the night's first basket for a 2-0
Blue Raider lead with 41 seconds off the clock.
A trey by Josh Jacobs -- his first of the year --
and a three-point play by Freeman started the Trojan scoring. Middle
Tennessee cut the lead to one a few minutes later when Mike Dean's basket
brought MTSU to within 14-13 with 7:43 to play. The Trojans then went on
an 11-1 run -- spurred by a trey and four free throws by Wright -- to take
a 25-14 lead with 3:09 to play in the first half.
"You've got to have more than one scorer on a team,"
Shields said, "and Zack Wright has stepped up for us. He's so elusive in
getting to the basket. He's shooting better from the three-point line than he did last year and his
shot selection is much better this year."
Middle Tennessee trailed 35-23 at halftime. Freeman
and Wright each hit two free throws in the first three minutes of the
second half to put UALR up by 18, 41-23, with 17:24 left. But foul trouble
began to plague the Trojans' big men, as Eason picked up his fourth
personal with 15:53 remaining in the game and Hardman being called for his
fourth at the 11:22 mark.
The Blue Raiders cut the lead to single digits when
Bryan Smithson hit a trey with 1:09 to play, pulling Middle Tennessee to
within 61-53. Wright made a pair of free shots to put UALR back up by 10,
and MTSU answered with a layup by Marcus Morrison to trim the lead back to
eight, 63-55. Morrison drained a three-pointer with 10 seconds left to cut
the lead to six, 68-62 before UALR's Zack Graber completed the scoring by
making one free throw.
UALR now holds a 16-game home winning streak, the
ninth-longest in the nation, but leaves this week for a two-game road trip
beginning Thursday at North Texas. The Trojans play at Denver on Saturday
before hosting Arkansas State on Jan. 27.
