Trojans Pick Up 69-60 Win at South Alabama

MOBILE, Ala. – Little Rock overcame a slow start to pull away for a 69-60 win at South Alabama (5-7, 0-1 SBC) Wednesday night at the Mitchell Center. The win improves Little Rock to 11-1 overall and 1-0 in Sun Belt Conference play.
 
"I'm really proud of our players; we have so much respect for South Alabama," head coach Chris Beard said after the win. "They're very well coached – he does a great job. They have great players. We knew this was going to be very difficult. We've been talking to our guys since Christmas about how the non-conference season is over and this is a whole new entity."
 
The Trojans, who faced an 11-0 deficit to start the game, used runs of 14-3 and 13-3 in the first half to build a four-point lead at intermission.
 
Little Rock finished the night shooting 41.8 percent from the floor compared to 35.1 percent from South Alabama. Little Rock's defense limited the Jaguars to 9-of-30 shooting (.300) after halftime.
 
Josh Hagins led Little Rock on offense, totaling 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor, 3-of-6 from 3 and 4-of-4 from the foul line. Jalen Jackson came off the bench to score 11 points. Roger Woods and Lis Shoshi added nine points each.
 
The Trojans finished the game with just eight turnovers, its sixth game this season with fewer than 10 miscues.
 
"I thought we showed a lot of toughness tonight," Beard said. "I don't know if I've ever had a team get down 11-0 to start and then be able to fight back in the game and show composure and poise. That's about as proud as I've been in the locker room in a long time."
 
Little Rock's defense locked down in the second half, forcing the Jaguars into nine straight missed shots and holding the Jags without a field goal for more than nine minutes. After Shaq Calhoun's dunk with 12:55 to play, USA's next bucket did not come until John Brown's 3-pointer with 3:54 left in regulation.
 
South Alabama trimmed the deficit to five late in the game after baskets by Calhoun and Brown. Little Rock answered with four unanswered points from the foul line to push the margin back out to nine with 31 seconds remaining.
 
The Trojans finished the night with a 30-18 advantage scoring in the paint and outscored the Jags 17-10 at the foul line.
 
South Alabama started the game with an 11-0 run, hitting 4 of its first 8 shots from the floor. Hagins' 3-pointer 5:20 into the contest put the Trojans on the board, and Woods' old-fashioned 3-point play the next trip down the floor trimmed the margin to five. All told, Little Rock responded with a 14-3 run to knot the game at 14-all.
 
With the Jaguars leading 22-21 with 8:47 to play in the half, Little Rock went on a 13-3 run over the next 5:56 to build a 34-25 advantage. The Jags closed the half with five points over the final 1:13 to make it a four-point game at intermission.
 
Little Rock continues Sun Belt Conference play at Troy on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 4:15 p.m.