Box Score TROY,
Ala.
- Freshman Kemy Osse's game-tying
three-point attempt at the end of regulation landed slightly off the mark, as
UALR (9-8, 3-3 SBC) stayed winless on the road this season with a 67-64 loss at
Troy (6-10, 1-4 SBC) Saturday night at the new Trojan Arena. The Trojans failed
to pull out the win for the first time this season when holding their opponent
under 70 points.
UALR led by one at halftime and went up as many as ten
in the second half Saturday night, but a 13-to-2 run by Troy midway through the
second half erased the Trojans' advantage and gave Troy a one-point lead with
7:39 left on the clock. A free throw by junior Will Neighbour tied the game at 56-all at the 4:30 mark, but Troy
answered with a three pointer by R.J. Scott and never relinquished the lead the
rest of the way. Freshman Josh Hagins
pulled the Trojans within one on a pull-up jumper with 49 ticks remaining, but after
Troy retained possession on a jump ball on the other end, Scott nailed both
free throws to get the home team's lead back to three with 16.9 seconds left. UALR
called a timeout, but couldn't convert as Osse's jumper from straightaway went
off the back of the rim.
Hagins and Neighbour led UALR with 14 points each, and
junior Leroy Isler scored 13 points
to give UALR three players in double figures. Hagins added four assists and
four steals while getting his second-straight start and playing a career-high
33 minutes. Neighbour finished with a team-high five rebounds. Osse chipped in
nine points, all on three pointers, to lead UALR in scoring off the bench.
As a team, UALR finished the night shooting 48.1
percent from the floor (25-of-52) and 52.3 percent from three-point range
(8-of-15), but Troy outrebounded UALR 33-to-28 and held a 40-to-15 lead in
bench scoring. The home team also knocked down 15-of-18 free throws, while UAL
R struggled to a 6-of-14 effort from the foul line.
Troy finished the night shooting 46.8 percent from the
floor (22-of-47) and ended the game with 15 assists on 22 made field goals.
Emil Jones scored 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting and a perfect 6-of-6 effort at
the foul line. Ray Chambers chipped in nine points for Troy and Westley Hinton
scored ten points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Playing in their new arena, Troy raced out to an 8-2
lead to start the game before UALR answered with 12-straight points to go up
14-8 on a lay-in by Isler just under seven minutes into the contest. Troy
pulled back within one on an old-fashioned three-point play by Antoine Myers
(9:13) and regained the lead on a bucket by Myers just over a minute later.
Troy got up by as many as four before a trey from the corner by Isler was
followed by an Osse triple to put UALR up two with 5:00 left in the half. Troy
tied the game at 29-all on a bucket by Chambers with 1:31 on the clock, but
Neighbour answered with a three pointer to put UALR up three. Jones hit a
jumper for Troy as the halftime buzzer sounded to make it a one-point game,
32-31, at intermission.
UALR returns to action with a pair of games at the Jack
Stephens Center next week against North Texas (Thurs., Jan 10) and FIU (Sat.,
Jan 12). Saturday's game against the Golden Panthers will aired on Comcast
Sports Southeast and Cox Sports Television as part of the Sun Belt Network's television
package.
