Box Score LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ? The UALR men's basketball team (13-10) had little trouble disposing of Savannah State on Saturday night, shooting a season-best 56.1 percent from the field en route to an 81-53 win. The Trojans jumped out to a 21-5 lead at the start of the game and led from wire-to-wire against the visiting Tigers (2-24).
Junior Zack Wright scored a season-high 22 points, while tallying seven assists and six rebounds. Junior Rashad Jones-Jennings registered his 11th double-double of the year with 11 points and 15 rebounds, helping UALR to a 36-21 edge on the glass.
The Trojans shot 70.0 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes (21-of-30), helping the team to a season-best 51 first-half points. UALR cooled off a little bit in the second half, as the team shot just 40.7 percent (11-of-27), while allowing the Tigers to shoot at a 50.0 percent clip (8-of-16). Savannah State never seriously threatened in the second half though, as the team was unable to get any closer than 20 points, 57-37, with 15:41 to play.
“The thing tonight that was most important, was that we brought a focus and an intensity level from the start,” said UALR head coach Steve Shields. “We still have areas to get better in and that is the thing I like most about this team. They are never satisfied and they do not get complacent.”
UALR rattled off the first eight points of the game and quickly built its lead to 21-5 at the 12:25 mark, thanks in part to nine points from senior Elijah Muldrow ? who finished with 13 on the night. The Tigers tried to claw their way back in to the contest, cutting their deficit to 14 points, 31-17, with 7:30 to go. But a 16-2 UALR run, capped off by a free throw from senior Byron Ray, gave the Trojans their largest lead of the first half, 47-19.
A quick 8-2 spurt near the start of the second half pulled SSU within 20 points, 57-37, but the Tigers would be unable to get any closer. Jones-Jennings answered with a three-point play, then Wright scored six straight points for the Trojans to quell the rally. A 10-0 UALR run moments later, with six points from freshman Lekheythan Malone, put UALR ahead 77-45 with 6:17 on the clock.
Junior Lorenzo Razz, who made his first Division-I start and finished with season highs of six points and three boards, capped off UALR's scoring with a putback and brought the Trojans' point total to a season-best 81 points.
Eight different Trojans scored on Saturday, including 11 points from Malone and a season-high four from junior Chris Thornton. UALR forced the Tigers in to 19 turnovers, while committing just 10 miscues of their own. Joseph Flegler led SSU with 16 points, while Michael Bennett added 10 off the bench.
UALR returns to action next week when it welcomes Western Kentucky (Feb. 16) and Middle Tennessee (Feb. 18) to the Jack Stephens Center for a pair of league games.
