LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ? The UALR men's basketball team coasted to a 78-59 exhibition win over Cameron University at the Jack Stephens Center on Sunday behind a solid defensive effort in the first half. The Trojans built a 35-19 lead at the intermission by holding the Aggies to a 27.6 shooting effort and forcing them into 12 turnovers.
Ten different players scored in the win for UALR, with four players reaching double figures. Junior De'Andre Eggins led the way with 13 points off the bench, followed by 12 from junior John Fowler. Freshman Derrick Bails added 11 points off a 4-for-5 effort from the field, while junior Brandon Patterson added 10 points and a game-high six assists.
The Trojans broke the game open with a 21-6 run in the first half to take a 34-17 lead. The Aggies scored 11 unanswered points in the second half to pull within nine points, 56-47, but Eggins and Bails scored the team's next 10 points to hold off the Cameron rally.
Cameron hit on just 8-of-29 attempts in the first half, while the Trojans shot 45.2 percent from the floor behind good ball movement ? UALR picked up an assist on 10 of its 14 first-half field goals.
“I think we've got a very unselfish group of guys who pass the ball well and see the floor well,” said UALR head coach Steve Shields. “We had a stretch in the first half where we turned the ball over on four straight trips, but other than that I thought we were okay offensively.”
After a first half in which they struggled to put points on the board, the Aggies shot 51.7 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes and put up 40 points on the Trojan defense.
“I think I've been soft in the way I've coached our team, and I think it has made our team soft. Your team takes on the personality of the head coach, and it's not our guys fault at all, it's my fault,” said Shields. “We gave up nineteen points in the first half, then 40 in the second half. Of their 14 shots they missed in the second half, they came up with an offensive rebound on seven of them.
“My main focus right now is on the defensive end. That's where we have got to get better.”
UALR was able to match the Aggies' second-half production, though, scoring 43 points by going 15-of-29 from the floor (51.7 percent) and 10-of-11 at the foul line.
Senior Rashad Moss provided the offense through the early goings, scoring seven of the Trojans first nine points to stake UALR to a 9-2 lead with 15:27 to go. The Aggies fought their way back into the game, pulling within two points, 13-11, after a pair of free throws by Chad Allan with 11:59 on the clock.
Sophomore Steven Moore entered the game with UALR holding a slim 13-11 lead and scored six points as part of a 10-0 run to extend the Trojans lead to 12 points, 23-11.
The 10-0 Trojan run snowballed into a 21-6 spurt, capped off by a bank shot from Moss with 1:18 remaining, to give UALR its largest lead of the half, 34-17.
Trailing by 20 points in the second half, 56-36, the Aggies rattled off a quick 11-0 spurt to pull within nine points, 56-47, with 10:08 to go. Back-to-back three pointers by Josh Brown and Greg Morgan sparked the 11-0 run. Morgan then capped it off with a successful three-point play to make it a nine-point game.
Eggins and Bails answered the bell for UALR, scoring the team's next 10 points to extend the Trojans' lead back to 17 points, 66-49. Patterson and Fowler added five points a piece down the stretch to give UALR the 78-59 win.
Playing in his first game in a Trojan uniform, Patterson went 4-of-7 from the field (2-of-3 beyond the arc) and totaled 10 points and six assists with no turnovers.
“I thought (Patterson) played extremely well and played at a good pace,” said Shields. “He was very, very patient on the offensive end, and that is one of his strengths. He sees the floor extremely well.”
Junior LaMarvon Jackson and sophomore Mike Smith led the Trojans to a 38-34 edge on the glass by combining for 15 rebounds off the bench. Jackson led all players with nine rebounds in 13 minutes of work, while Smith added six boards and two steals over 20 minutes of action.
Cameron's Leslie Malone led the visitors with 11 points, while Morgan chipped in 10 points and six rebounds. The Aggies shot 39.7 percent for the game, while the Trojans connected on 48.3 percent of their field goal attempts.
Junior forward Lekheythan Malone was in the starting lineup for UALR, but slipped on a wet spot and went to the floor with 11:06 remaining in the first half. Malone limped off the court without any assistance but did not return to the game.
UALR returns to action Friday when it opens the regular season by hosting the University of the Ozarks at 7 p.m.
