Box Score LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ? The Arkansas-Little Rock men's basketball team downed Texas State 73-54 at the Jack Stephens Center on Saturday night behind 17-point efforts from juniors Rashad Jones-Jennings and Zack Wright. The Trojans (2-1) used an 18-2 second-half run to put the game out of reach for the visiting Bobcats (0-4).
After taking a 30-25 lead into the intermission, the Trojans watched Texas State cut the lead down to two points, 41-39, with 12:48 to play after a 6-0 spurt. UALR answered with an 18-2 run, sparked by back-to-back three pointers from freshmen De'Andre Eggins and Brandon Nichols, to go on top 59-41 with 8:48 remaining.
Texas State never seriously threatened the rest of the way, as the Trojans shot 52.4 percent over the course of the second half (11-of-21) and went 19-of-24 at the free-throw line (79.2 percent).
Wright added game-high totals of eight rebounds and six assists to his 17-point performance, while Jones-Jennings tallied six boards to go along with his 17-point showing. Eggins chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench, while freshman Lekheythan Malone added 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting.
The Bobcats led by five points, 17-12, with 10:02 left in the first half after a three pointer by Brandon Bush. The five-point edge marked Texas State's biggest, and final, lead of the night, as the Trojans came out of a timeout and immediately embarked on a 15-2 run (with six points from Jones-Jennings) to go on top for good.
JuShay Rocked led the Bobcats with 15 points, but fouled out in just 22 minutes of work. Bush and C.J. Webster both chipped in eight points a piece off the TSU bench.
Junior Byron Ray saw his first action of the season for the Trojans, totaling three points and two boards in 14 minutes of reserve work.
“Byron is one of those guys who is going to bring it from an effort standpoint every time out,” said UALR head coach Steve Shields. “He is such a high-energy, positive guy and that is contagious for the rest of the team.”
UALR enjoyed a 37-27 edge on the boards and forced the Bobcats into 20 turnovers. The Trojans committed just 11 turnovers to go with 17 assists, and shot a season-best 45.3 percent from the field (24-53).
The Trojans return to action Tuesday night when they welcome John Brown to the Jack Stephens Center at 7 p.m. It will mark the team's last home game until a Dec. 10 meeting with Bowling Green.
