Box Score
Eason, Hardman lead UALR to 58-54 win over USA
Feb. 3, 2005
Box score
MOBILE, Ala. -- Darius Eason and Richard Hardman
recorded a double-double each as UALR held off a late South Alabama rally
to take a 58-54 win over Jaguars Thursday night at the Mitchell Center.
UALR improves to 13-8 on the year and 5-4 in Sun
Belt Conference play. South Alabama moves to 6-14 and 3-6.
Eason scored 14 points and grabbed a career-high 14
rebounds while Hardman notched 15 points and 10 rebounds. Columbus Willis
came off the bench to score 10 and pull down six boards for the Trojans.
"Without a doubt, we were the hungrier basketball
team tonight," UALR coach Steve Shields said. "It was a total team effort.
We did an excellent job of making the extra pass tonight."
South Alabama jumped out to an early six-point lead,
8-2 less than three minutes into the game. But UALR went on an 11-0 run to
take a 13-8 lead with 10:23 to play. In evidence of the team play that
Shields mentioned, four Trojans scored during the streak, and three UALR
players recorded assists during the stretch as well.
A South Alabama layup by Jeffrey Collins brought the
Jags to within 13-10, but Eason hit a jumper to put the Trojans back up by
five before USA went on a short run of its own to take a 17-15 lead with
6:58 left in the first half.
The Trojans eventually went back up by 24-22 on
Eason's jumper with 3:09 remaining. Back-to-back three-pointers by South
Alabama's Mario Jointer and Richard law gave the Jaguars a 28-24 advantage
with 1:15 to play. Eason hit a layup with 41 seconds left and the Trojans
went into the half trailing 28-26.
The game stayed close throughout the second half,
but UALR managed to grab a 52-43 lead with 4:24 remaining. South Alabama
then outscored UALR 7-0 over the next 2:15 to pull within two, 52-52, with
1:39 to play. Willis tipped in a missed shot by Hardman to put the Trojans
up 54-50 with 1:09 left. USA's Daniel Northern hit two free throws with 35
seconds left to get the Jaguars back to within two, 54-52.
After a foul on South Alabama's Shane Spencer,
UALR's Brandon Freeman hit one of two free throws for a 55-53 UALR lead
with 30 seconds to play. Hardman then blocked a shot attempt by Jointer
and grabbed the rebound with 19 seconds left and was quickly fouled.
Hardman also made one of his two free throw attempts for a 56-52 lead with
16 seconds to play. USA's Carlos Smith made a layup with 8 seconds
remaining, and Freeman hit two free throws with 5 seconds left to seal the
win for the Trojans.
UALR outrebounded South Alabama 46-27 and held the
Jaguars to just five offensive rebounds, which ties a season low for a
Trojan opponent. The 19-rebound advantage was also a season-best for UALR.
"We did an excellent on the defensive glass,"
Shields said. "South Alabama ended up with just five offensive rebounds.
Our guys did a tremendous job on the glass."
For the second time this season, UALR did not shoot
a free throw in the first half. The Trojans didn't make a trip to the
charity stripe in the first half of the second game of the season at
Oklahoma State.
