Box Score LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ? The UALR men's basketball team (12-14, 7-8 Sun Belt) scored a season-high 55 points in the second half off a .593 shooting percentage, and rode a career-high 23 points from sophomore Lekheythan Malone to a 79-71 win over Troy (11-15, 6-9) on Saturday night at the Jack Stephens Center. UALR overcame a nine-point halftime deficit to win back-to-back games for the first time since November and keep alive its hopes of hosting a first round game in the Sun Belt Tournament.
Malone, who scored 16 of his points in the second half, led four Trojans in double figures. Freshman Steven Moore matched his career-high with 17 points, going 10-of-12 at the foul line while racking up seven assists against just two turnovers. Troy's Boo Ramsey went 8-of-13 from three-point range en route to a game-high 24 points and helped the visitors connect on an arena-record 16 three pointers.
UALR trailed 33-24 at the break after suffering a 5:15 scoring drought, while allowing Troy to go 7-of-14 from three-point range over the first 20 minutes. After shooting just 30.8 percent in the first half, UALR opened the second half by knocking down its first three three-point attempts, the last of which tied the game at 33-all with 18:24 remaining. Three different players connected during the 9-0 run, as junior Terrance Akins, sophomore De'Andre Eggins and Malone all made good from beyond the arc.
Troy, which went 16-of-31 from three-point range on the night (51.6 percent), used three pointers from Cedric Jackson and Ramsey to take a 42-39 lead with 13:19 to go. Malone responded by sinking two jumpers for the Trojans, the last of which gave UALR a 43-42 lead with 12:20 to go, which they would never relinquish.
Leading 53-50, the Trojans embarked on a 12-2 run over the next 4:50 to put Troy away. Moore sparked the run with a three pointer, then fed sophomore Brandon Nichols for a one-hand slam moments later to put UALR ahead 60-50. After a bucket by Troy's Richard Chaney, Malone capped off the run with five-unanswered points off a three pointer (assisted by Moore) and a layup. Malone's layup gave UALR a comfortable 13-point lead, 65-52, with just 2:15 to play.
Troy continued its three-point onslaught as Ramsey sank two treys and Justin Jonus nailed one over the final 1:19 to help Troy pull within seven points, 71-64, with 42 seconds to go. UALR, however, went 8-of-10 at the foul line over the final 40 seconds to prevent Troy from completing the comeback.
UALR shot 45.3 percent in the game, thanks to a 16-of-26 effort in the second half (59.3 percent). The Trojans went 9-of-24 from three-point range (37.5 percent), and converted 22-of-31 attempts at the foul line. Troy, on the other hand, earned just three trips to the free-throw line in the entire game.
Malone went 8-of-10 from the field, and 5-of-6 at the foul line, to finish with a career-high 23 points. He added nine rebounds and teamed with senior Rashad Jones-Jennings (14 rebounds) to lead UALR to a 39-31 edge on the glass. Eggins and Akins joined Malone and Moore in double figures with 16 and 13 points, respectively.
Ramsey's 8-of-13 three-point performance led the way for Troy, but the visitors also got a boost from O'Darien Bassett, who tallied 19 points and nine assists, while going 4-of-6 from three-point range.
UALR trailed by just four points, 17-13, with 10:24 to go in the first half after a tip-in by Eggins, but followed up Eggins' field goal with a 5:15 scoring drought, during which Troy scored eight unanswered points to extend its lead to 12 points, 25-13, with 7:37 to go.
Moore broke the Trojans' drought with a pair of free throws at the 5:09 mark, but UALR would not make another field goal until a dunk by Eggins with 4:18 to play ? making it 6:06 between made field goals for the Trojans.
Troy led by as many as 13 points in the first half, 30-17 after a three pointer by Ramsey with 4:06 on the clock, but UALR closed out the half on a 7-3 run to cut its deficit to nine points at the break. Malone accounted for five points during the run, with the other two coming compliments of a spectacular reverse layup from Moore. The Trojans were fortunate to trail by just nine at the half, 33-24, after shooting 30.8 percent with nine turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
UALR returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 17 when it hits the road to take on North Texas.
