LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock went on a 10-0 run late to bring the Jack Stephens Center crowd to its feet, but Troy never surrendered the lead and hung on for a 78-69 victory on Monday night.
Little Rock (12-8, 3-4 Sun Belt Conference) trailed by as many as 11 in the second half and pulled within a point at 68-67, but Troy (11-10, 3-4) scored the next five points to get some breathing room for the victory.
Marcus Johnson Jr. was one of three Little Rock players in double-figure scoring with 16 points.
Deondre Burns scored 12, and
Kemy Osse had 11.
Oliver Black scored six points and led Little Rock with seven rebounds.
Jalen Jackson had a team-high five assists, and Johnson had four.
Trailing 68-57 with nine minutes to play, Little Rock made its move. A Black layup, two Johnson free throws, two Jackson free throws and an under-the-basket layup from Johnson cut the Troy lead to 68-65 in a span of 3:30 and forced Troy to take a timeout. After the timeout, Little Rock got two more free throws from
Deondre Burns to make it a 1-point game, and neither team would score for the next three possessions.
Troy finally scored its first points in nearly 6:30 with two free throws to regain a 70-67 lead and end Little Rock's 10-0 run, and the visitors hit a momentum-killing 3-pointer from Jeremy Hollimon on their next possession to retake a 6-point lead with 1:37 to play. Little Rock did not score a field goal for the final five minutes of the game as its rally faded.
The Troy hit 53 percent of its shots in the first half and Little Rock made 52 percent of its field goal attempts to result in a 45-39 Troy lead at halftime. Seven different Little Rock players had at least four points at the break including a team-high nine from
Maurius Hill.
Little Rock led for the first 13 minutes of the game before Troy fought back for a tie. The visitors eventually took the lead for good with six minutes remaining in the first half.
Little Rock returns to action on Saturday night when it travels to Lafayette, La., for a matchup with Louisiana. Tipoff at the Cajundome is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.
Sun Belt Championship Tickets
The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy. New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12 and ticket books can now be purchased from your our ticket office. For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference's championship central websites -
Men's Championship –
Women's Championship – and be sure to follow the @FunBelt on social media -
@SunBelt.
