Box Score LAS VEGAS - The UALR men's basketball team (7-6) snapped a three-game losing streak with a 52-49 victory over Oral Roberts at the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic on Wednesday. UALR took its first lead of the night with 7:27 left in the game and held off the Golden Eagles (4-8) down the stretch to avenge its loss to ORU earlier this season in Tulsa.
After allowing its last three opponents to shoot over 50.0 percent from the field, the Trojan defense came back to life on Wednesday, holding the Golden Eagles to a .320 field goal percentage, including a 2-for-15 effort from three-point range. ORU held a 28-21 lead at the break, but shot just 25.0 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes (6-of-24).
Senior Solomon Bozeman went 11-of-15 at the foul line on his way to a game-high 17 points, and freshman Chuck Guy added 13 points off the bench to help the UALR reserves outscore ORU's bench 19-4. Junior Courtney Jackson grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds and senior Montrell Thornton matched his career-high with seven boards to help the Trojans to a +10 margin on the glass (43-to-33).
Damen Bell-Holter led the Golden Eagles with 16 points off 6-of-10 shooting, while Steven Roundtree added an 11-point, 13-rebound double-double. Leading scorer Dominique Morrison managed just eight points off 2-of-7 shooting and was plagued by foul trouble for most of the game, as was starting guard Ken Holdman, who fouled out in 24 minutes of action.
Oral Roberts took a seven-point lead into the half, 28-21, after holding the Trojans to a .292 field goal percentage over the first 20 minutes (7-of-24). The Trojans managed to get to the free-throw line 13 times in the first half, but converted just six of their foul shots (46.2 percent). Thornton gave the Trojans a boost in the opening stanza by totaling eight points and five boards in 15 minutes of action. The 6-8 forward even scored UALR's first five points of the game.
The Golden Eagles didn't fare much better from the field in the first half, shooting 38.5 percent as a team (10-of-26), but received eight points from Bell-Holter and seven from Niles. Leading 12-11 at the 11:07 mark, the Golden Eagles scored seven-unanswered points, capped off by a three-point play from Holdman, to build an eight-point lead. ORU's advantage reached as high as 11 points, 28-17, but Thornton and Bozeman each sank a pair of foul shots down the stretch to bring UALR within seven at the break, 28-21.
Down 30-21, near the start of the second half, UALR put together an 11-2 run, with seven points from Bozeman, to tie things up at 32-all with 15:20 left in the game. Down 41-37, junior D'Andre Williams hit a jumper and Guy delivered a three pointer, off an assist from Bozeman, to give UALR its first lead of the night, 42-41, with 7:27 to play.
The two teams went back and forth over the next seven minutes, with UALR taking its largest lead of the game, 48-44, after Bozeman sank a pair of free throws following an intentional foul against Morrison with 3:45 remaining.
ORU twice cut its deficit to a single point, but the Trojans were able to remain on top. Roundtree brought the Golden Eagles within a point, 48-47, on a successful three-point play, but Guy answered with a jumper on the other end to put UALR back ahead by three. Trailing 51-49, Bell-Holter went to the foul line with a chance to tie things up with 10.6 seconds remaining, but missed the front end of a one-and-one situation. ORU retained possession as the ball went out of bounds, but Roundtree missed a jumper in close and Thornton was able to corral the rebound.
Bozeman was fouled on the play and went to the line with 4.6 seconds left in the game. The Magnolia, Ark.-native sank 1-of-2 free throws to extend UALR's lead to three points, 52-49. ORU pushed the ball up the court as time wound down, but Warren Niles' desperation three pointer at the buzzer was off the mark.
UALR returns to action Thursday when it closes out its stay at the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic against Stetson at 6:30 p.m. (CT).
