Box Score
Trojans hold off North Texas, 71-64
Jan. 20, 2005
Box score
DENTON, Texas -- UALR took a 14-point lead midway
through the second half and fought off a furious North Texas rally and
held on for a 71-64 win Thursday night at the Super Pit. The win puts the
Trojans (12-5 overall; 4-1 in Sun Belt play) in sole possession of first
place in the East Division of the conference.
Brandon Freeman led four Trojans in double figures
with 18 points. Richard Hardman scored 14, Darius Eason contributed 13
points and Zack Wright scored 10.
"I just told our guys in the locker room that it's
amazing what can happen when no one cares who gets the credit," UALR coach
Steve Shields said. "Our guys did a great job tonight. Our help defense
was really effective."
UALR was up by five at the half, 33-28, thanks a
long jumper by Freeman at the buzzer. The Trojans came out in the second
half and quickly built a double-digit advantage, going up 44-33 on a
basket by Hardman with 17:14 remaining in the game. Leon Hopkins led a
North Texas comeback, as he scored six in a 13-5 Mean Green run that
culminated in a trey by Isaac Hines that cut the UALR lead to 50-46 with
12;50 to play.
The Trojans answered with a streak of their own.
Hardman's jumper started a 12-4 run over the 3:38 that left UALR up 62-48
with 9:12 left.
Hopkins again keyed a North Texas run, as he made
four consecutive free throws as the Mean Green slowly ate in the UALR lead
and ended up within one, 65-64 with 1:34 remaining.
A pair of free throws by Wright with 1:02 left put
UALR back up by three, 67-64. UNT's Michael Jones missed a three-pointer
with 50 seconds remaining, and Columbus Willis sealed the win for North
Texas when he put back a missed shot by Hardman for a 69-64 UALR lead with
19 seconds left. Zack Graber hit two free throws with 1.6 seconds
remaining to finish the night's scoring.
"We bent, but we didn't break," Shields said. "When
North Texas got the game back to within one possession, we had the mental
toughness to handle it."
The Trojans don't have much time to savor the win.
The team flies from Dallas to Denver on Friday morning and will play at
the University of Denver at 8 p.m. Central time on Saturday. The game will
be broadcast on Comcast Channel 18 in Little Rock.
UALR outrebounded North Texas, 45-31, its largest
rebounding margin of the season and a season-high in rebounds as well.
Hardman led the Trojans with 10 boards, while each of the nine Trojans who
saw playing time recorded at least one rebound. The Trojans shot 40
percent from the floor, hitting 22-of-55 from the floor while holding
North Texas to 32.8 percent (19-of-58).
