Box Score
Trojans fall in Sun Belt tournament, 69-64
March 5, 2005
Box score
DENTON, Texas -- Three Trojans scored in double
figures but UALR fell to Florida International, 69-64, in the
quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference tournament Saturday in Denton.
The Trojans fall to 18-10 on the year while FIU
moves on with a 13-16 mark.
Brandon Freeman led UALR with 15 points. Zack Wright
scored 13 and Darius Eason contributed 10. Eason also blocked two shots,
which gives him 100 career blocks and moves him into a tie with Ryan Moss
on UALR's all-time blocked shots list.
FIU's Junior Matias led all scorers with 26 points
and Ismael N'Diaye added 11 for the Golden Panthers.
Florida International led by as many as seven in the
first half, and went into the break with a 32-26 advantage. FIU went on a
6-0 run to open the second period and took a 12-point lead, 38-26, with
17:28 left in the game.
The Trojans answered with a seven-point stretch of
their own -- with Freeman hitting a trey and Richard Hardman contributing
a jumper and two free throws -- to get to within five, 38-33, with 15:53
remaining.
Matias hit two free throws and Ivan Almonte nailed a
jumper to put FIU back up by nine, 42-33, with 13:00 to play, but the
Trojans battled back once again. Freeman hit a jumper, Zack Graber drained
a trey, Columbus Willis worked his way inside for a layup and Wright made
another layup to tie the game 42-42 with 10:29 left.
The Golden Panthers got back up by four, 51-47
before UALR rallied to tie the game again. FIU eventually went up by
seven, 62-55, with 1:57 to play, and the Trojans couldn't get any closer
than three the rest of the way. A layup by Wright with 32 seconds left
pulled UALR to within 67-64, but the Trojans were forced to foul Antonio
Jones to stop the clock with 30 seconds to play, and he hit both free
shots for the game's final points.
The Trojans shot 46.7 percent from the floor while
FIU shot 44.7. The Golden Panthers outrebounded UALR 34-23, and grabbed 15
rebounds to the Trojans' six.
