Box Score
UALR clinches division title with win over ULL
Feb. 26, 2005
Box score
When UALR beat Western Kentucky on Feb. 17, Zack
Wright drew a double team but managed to get the ball to a wide-open
Darius Eason on the baseline for a game-winning dunk.
Saturday against Louisiana-Lafayette, it was deja vu
all over again. Wright drew two ULL defenders to him as he drove the
baseline on the right side of the basket, and he again managed to get the
ball to Eason on the left baseline. Eason then gently laid the ball off
the glass with time running out to give the Trojans a 64-63 win over the
Ragin' Cajuns and clinch their second consecutive Sun Belt Conference East
Division championship.
Eason finished with 12 points, six rebounds and four
assists. Brandon Freeman led all scorers with 25 points, and he also
grabbed seven boards. Richard Hardman scored 10 and just missed a
double-double with nine boards.
Tiras Wade, with 22 points, was the only ULL starter
in double figures. Brian Hamilton came off the bench to score 12.
UALR took a 35-30 lead into halftime, but the Cajuns
came out after the break and went on an 18-0 scoring run to take an
11-point lead, 50-39, with 15:11 remaining. Orien Greene hit two
three-pointers during the stretch while Chris Cameron hit a trey and a
layup.
After a layup by Hardman cut the lead to nine, ULL's
Hamilton got it back to 11, 51-41, with 12:22 left to play.
Freeman pulled UALR to within five, 52-47, when he
hit two consecutive baskets and then made two free throws. ULL came back
with two unanswered buckets to pull out to a nine-point advantage, 56-47,
with 8:32 left.
Eason's jumper cut it to seven, 56-49, but Wade's
trey with 5:28 left gave the Cajuns another double-digit lead, 59-49.
A three-pointer by Zack Graber pulled UALR to within
seven, and the Trojans cut the lead to three, 59-56 with 4:05 to play, on
two free throws from Hardman and a jumper by Eason. Hardman then got the
Trojans to within a point with a layup with 3:30 to go.
ULL extended its lead to five, 63-58 with 2:22
remaining, on buckets by Wade and Ross Mouton. Wright worked his way
inside for a layup with 2:17 left and then hit two free throws after he
was fouled by Mouton with 1:02 to play.
ULL's Cameron missed a trey with 28 seconds to play
and Wright grabbed the rebound. Graber brought the ball just past midcourt
before UALR coach Steve Shields called a 60-second timeout with 16.3
seconds left.. On the inbounds play, Wright threw the ball to Graber, who,
as he was turning to dribble, got hit in the eye by ULL's Mouton with 12.8
seconds to play. The officials stopped the clock momentarily so Graber
could be assessed. Graber then threw the ball in to Wright, who worked his
way to the baseline before passing to Eason for the game-winning shot.
UALR wraps ups its regular season with a an 18-9
record and 10-4 mark in Sun Belt Conference play. ULL moves to 17-10 and
11-4. With the win, the Trojans earned a bye in the first round of the Sun
Belt tournament, which begins Friday in Denton, Texas. UALR's first game
in the tournament will be at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The Trojans ended the year with six consecutive
conference victories, the first time UALR has won six straight league
games since the 1994-95 season.
