LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock held off a feisty Philander Smith team that gave the Trojans all they could handle, pulling away late for a 60-51 victory over the Panthers at the Jack Stephens Center Saturday afternoon.
The win snaps a four-game losing skid for the Trojans who improve to 5-6 on the season. Little Rock is now 4-1 on its home court and improves to 5-4 in the all-time series with Philander Smith.
Once again playing shorthanded, Little Rock played just seven players against their cross-town neighbors with three Trojans finishing in double figures, led by a game-high 18 points from
Isaiah Palermo. The junior just missed his second double-double of the season, finishing with nine rebounds to complement a team-high five assists.
Marko Lukic had another strong showing, finishing with 15 points in his first start of the season, pulling down six rebounds and going 7-of-9 at the free throw line.
D.J. Smith tallied his first career double-double, setting career highs with 13 points and 10 rebounds, including knocking down 9-of-10 free throws to help seal the win for Little Rock.
Jovan Stulic added seven points and five rebounds with a pair of blocks off the bench with
Admir Besovic and
Jordan Jefferson each finishing with three points.
Kevin Osawe finished with five rebounds as well.
Little Rock struggled from the floor against the Philander Smith defense, shooting 35.6% from the floor and hitting just 3-of-19 from three point range (15.8%). But the Trojans' free throw shooting helped Little Rock pull away late, making 25 of 30 attempts (83.3%).
Philander Smith forced 22 Little Rock turnovers and pulled down 17 offensive rebounds, helping keep the Panthers in the game. Little Rock did hold the overall rebounding edge at 42-38 and held Philander Smith to just 29.0% from the floor and 31.3% from beyond the arc. The two teams combined for 12 ties and 17 lead changes through the course of the game.
Little Rock and Philander Smith battled for the first 20 minutes as the two teams combined for seven ties and 11 lead changes as neither team led by more than five points. A 6-0 run early helped the Trojans build a 10-6 lead at the 12:21 mark, only to see the Panthers reclaim the lead with a 5-0 run of its own.
The Trojans would lead by as many as five off a layup from Palermo and a three from Lukic, pushing the lead to 20-15 with 9:09 remaining in the half. But Philander would rally back to tie the game four more times over the final nine minutes as the Trojans took a 32-30 lead into halftime.
Philander Smith opened the second half on a 6-0 run, reclaiming the lead at 36-32 with 17:57 remaining in the game. Little Rock used a 6-0 run of its own to pull in front 38-36, matched by 4-0 run by the Panthers to reclaim the lead at 40-38.
After exchanging baskets, Philander Smith took the lead once again at 44-43 with 7:39 to go, but Little Rock strung together a 7-0 run over the next minute and a half, going on top by six at 50-44 and finally taking over a lead it would never relinquish.
The Panthers got to within three on two separate occasions, but the Trojan free throw shooting solidified the win as Little Rock made eight of its last from the charity stripe over the final six minutes to put the game away, earning the 60-51 win.
Philander Smith was led by 14 points and nine rebounds from Kenneth Perkins, who played just 22 minutes due to foul trouble. Chris Rufus added 10 points off the bench for the Panthers.
Little Rock dressed just eight players on the night as
Marko Andric missed the game due to flu-like symptoms. With the other six injured players still unable to suit up, Little Rock's roster has now missed a total of 59 games this season.
The Trojans will head back on the road early next week, making the short trip to Conway to face Central Arkansas in the men's basketball installment of the Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield Governor's I-40 Showdown. Opening tip is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, December 14 at the Farris Center.
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