Box Score LITTLE ROCK - The UALR men's basketball team (3-6) snapped its five-game losing streak with a 102-59 thrashing of Philander Smith on Tuesday night at the Jack Stephens Center. Six different players scored in double figures for UALR, which established a new arena record by shooting 62.1 percent from the floor.
UALR opened the game on a 21-6 run, with seven points from senior Courtney Jackson, and never looked back. The Trojans shot a blistering 74.2 percent from the field in the first half, and led by at least 20 points the rest of the night after taking a 38-16 lead off a three-point play by senior Marlon Louzeiro with 8:06 left in the half.
Junior Eric Lawton led the Trojans with 15 points off the bench, followed by freshmen Taggart Lockhart and Michael Javes, with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Jackson, freshman Ben Dillard and sophomore Chuck Guy rounded out UALR's double-figure scorers with 10 points apiece. Ten of UALR's 11 players scored in the win, all of which totaled at least seven points, as the Trojan bench outscored Philander's reserves 54-to-7.
UALR dominated the Panthers on the inside, playing to a +21 margin on the glass (45-to-21) while enjoying a 62-to-16 scoring advantage on points in the paint. The Trojans racked up a season-high 27 assists on 41 made field goals, with senior D'Andre Williams matching his career best with 10 assists against zero turnovers. Williams added eight points and came up with three of UALR's eight steals to help the Trojans force Philander into 18 turnovers.
Philander Smith's Ken Brown, a former Western Kentucky Hilltopper, led all players with 22 points off 9-of-19 shooting. He scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half to keep Philander in the game, but fouled out with 6:51 left to play. Philander trailed by 21 at the half, 56-35, after shooting 50.0 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes, but the Trojans limited the Panthers to an 8-of-30 effort in the second half (26.7 percent).
UALR's .621 field goal percentage bested the previous arena high of .618 against Northern Illinois on Dec. 14, 2008. The Trojans were 41-of-66 from the field on the night, including a 4-of-20 effort from three-point range. Inside the three-point arc, the Trojans converted 37-of-46 field goal attempts for a remarkable .804 shooting percentage.
UALR returns to action Saturday afternoon when it welcomes Missouri State to the Jack Stephens Center at 4:30 p.m.
