LR Advances to Title Game with Win over Louisiana

NEW ORLEANS – Top-seeded Little Rock (28-4) topped No.4 seed Louisiana (17-14) by a 72-65 final score Saturday to advance to the finals of Sun Belt Men's Basketball Championship presented by First Bank and Trust on Sunday.
 
The win advances Little Rock to its fourth tournament finals since joining the league in 1991. The Trojans will face the winner of today's UT Arlington-ULM matchup tomorrow at noon in a game that will be televised on ESPN2.
 
"To beat Louisiana three times in one season really speaks highly of our players and I give them a lot of credit," head coach Chris Beard said after the win. "That's a really good basketball team. It's a really good coach. We just have a lot respect for their program. Obviously Shawn Long gets a lot of attention because he's a pro, but they've got a lot of other good players, too. I just give our players a lot of credit for finding a way to win today."

Little Rock led by 10 at halftime, but scoring runs by the Ragin' Cajuns tied the game twice midway through the second half. It was just a three-point Trojans lead with 2:25 to play before Little Rock scored the next four points. UL got no closer than six the rest of the way.
 
The Trojans finished the game shooting 53.8 percent from the floor while knocking down 8 of 16 3-pointers. The Trojans, who turned it over nine times compared to 18 by the Cajuns, led 27-6 in points off turnovers.
 
Jalen Jackson led Little Rock with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Josh Hagins added 15 points to go along with five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Lis Shoshi and Marcus Johnson Jr. scored 13 each to give Little Rock four players in double figures.
 
The Trojans handed out 18 assists, led by Roger Woods' six helpers.
 
Tonight's win marks a 15-victory improvement from last year's 13-18 record, establishing a new league record.
 
With Little Rock up 10 at the break, a 12-2 run by Louisiana to start the second half tied the game at 38-all with 12 minutes to play.
 
With the game tied at 40-all, Little Rock responded by scoring 15 of the next 20 points to build a 55-45 lead with eight minutes to play. Two triples by Hagins helped spark the run, while a Mareik Isom 3 from the corner lifted Little Rock's lead back into double digits.
 
The Cajuns whittled the margin back to three with 2:25 to play. Lis Shoshi's baseline jumper on the next possession was followed by a bucket from Johnson to get the lead back to seven with just 1:10 left.
 
Shawn Long led Louisiana with 25 points and seven rebounds. Kasey Shepherd scored 18 points while making three 3-pointers.
 
Little Rock took a 33-23 lead into halftime. Despite a slow shooting start, Little Rock finished the half shooting 13 of 26 from the floor and 4 of 8 from 3-point range. After missing its first four shots and starting 1 of 6 from the floor, eleven straight points by Jackson carried Little Rock to a 16-10 lead with 9:35 to play in the half.
 
The Trojans lead widened to nine after a Shoshi jumper from the baseline and a Johnson finish grew the margin to 23-14, forcing a Cajuns timeout with 6:03 to go in the half.
 
Isom added a 3-pointer following the UL timeout to give Little Rock a 12-point lead and cap a 10-2 run.
 
The Trojans' margin grew as wide as 14 after two free throws by Johnson made it 31-17 with 4:11 left.
 
With a win Sunday, Little Rock would match the Sun Belt Conference record for wins in a season (29).