Box Score
LITTLE ROCK - Sophomore
Will Neighbour was one of four Trojans to score in double figures, finishing with a game-high 21 points to lead the UALR men's basketball team (13-14, 10-3 Sun Belt) to a 78-64 victory over Florida International (7-18, 4-9) at the Jack Stephens Center. UALR shot 52.1 percent from the field while holding the Golden Panthers to a .305 clip to improve to 10-3 in league play and maintain its spot atop the Sun Belt's West Division.
UALR trailed 32-31 at the break, but rattled off an 18-2 run midway through the second half to take the lead for good. Senior Courtney Jackson scored eight points during the 18-2 run, capping it off with a hook shot in the paint to give UALR its largest lead of the night, 58-40, with 8:38 remaining. FIU cut its deficit back to nine points, 63-54, behind a three pointer from Phil Taylor and a three-point play by Cameron Bell, but the Trojans answered with a 10-2 run and were never threatened again.
Jackson scored all 13 of his points in the second half by going 6-of-7 from the field over the final 20 minutes. Freshman Michael Javes added 10 points, five rebounds and three blocks, while senior D'Andre Williams filled the stat sheet with 11 points, a team-high eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. Neighbour topped 20 points for the second-straight game by going 4-of-8 from three-point range and a perfect 7-for-7 at the foul line. The 6-10 forward scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half while going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc.
Taylor paced the Golden Panthers with 17 points off the bench behind a 4-for-8 effort from three-point range. DeJuan Wright added 13 points despite going 3-of-11 from the field, followed by 11 points and seven rebounds from Bell. FIU was whistled for 29 fouls in the loss and had three players foul out of the game - Bell, Jeremy Allen and Dominique Ferguson.
FIU shot just 25.7 percent from the field in the second half (9-of-35) on its way to a .305 field goal percentage. The Golden Panthers outrebounded UALR 36-to-34, with 18 offensive rebounds, but committed 17 turnovers which the Trojans turned into 22 points. UALR got to the foul line 36 times in Thursday's victory, but converted just 22 foul shots (61.1 percent).
UALR entered the game averaging a Sun Belt-best 11.0 turnovers per game in conference play, but committed 10 turnovers in the first half alone to help the Golden Panthers take a 32-31 lead into the break. The Trojans outshot FIU 48.0 percent to 37.5 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes, but the Golden Panthers made up for it by going a perfect 11-for-11 at the foul line, while the Trojans made just 4-of-11 free-throw attempts (36.4 percent).
Freshman Ben Dillard gave the Trojans a spark early on by scoring seven points as part of a 10-0 run as UALR built a seven-point lead, 13-6, with 14:33 on the clock - the largest lead by either team in the first half. FIU rallied to reclaim the lead, 24-23, with 6:06 to go as Allen delivered a three-point play, but back-to-back buckets by Javes fueled a quick 6-0 run as the Trojans went ahead 29-24.
UALR led 31-26 with 2:55 to go, but FIU scored the final six points of the half, including two free throws by Bell with 0.4 seconds remaining, to take a one-point lead into the intermission. Javes led all players with eight points at the break off a 3-for-5 effort from the floor.
UALR returns to action Saturday night when it hits the road to take on Troy at 7:30 p.m.
NOTES: UALR student-manager Ted Crass made the first appearance of his career on Thursday night, checking into the game with 1:24 remaining ... FIU head coach Isiah Thomas was ejected from the game with 13:03 left to play in the second half.
