The night began and ended with a celebration Thursday at the Jack Stephens Center. Before the game, the Little Rock men's basketball team's 2024 Ohio Valley Conference championship banner was unveiled. Fans cheered again at the end of night after the Trojans (7-5, 1-0) held on to beat SIU-Edwardsville, 60-56.
Little Rock's OVC regular-season win streak grew to 10 games dating back to a victory over the Cougars (7-5, 0-1) last winter.
Mwani Wilkinson, who left the game momentarily when he went down hard early in the second half after blocking a shot, led Little Rock with 16 points and 6 rebounds.
Isaiah Lewis and
Ante Beljan, who blocked four shots, totaled 13 points apiece and
Johnathan Lawson led the team with 10 rebounds and chipped in 12 points. He also led the Trojans with 7 assists.
SIUE's Ray'Sean Taylor led all scorers with 18 points but was only 3-of-10 from the field. Taylor is one of the more prolific scores in the nation and averages 17 ppg. Only one other Cougar scored in double figures. Little Rock stifled SIUE to just 32.2% shooting from the field, including 28% from the three-point line.
Little Rock won the rebounding battle, 41-39.
The Trojans led 30-22 at halftime and increased their lead early in the second half as Wilkinson hit a jumper on Little Rock's first possession, but he exited the game hobbling moments after. While he was sidelined, the margin grew to as many as 13.
A pair of SIUE free throws whittled the lead down to five with 1:34 remaining, but Wilkinson answered with a three-pointer to make it a 56-48 lead with just over a minute to play. Beljan added one of two free throws on the next possession and Little Rock led by nine.
However, some Little Rock missed free throws down the stretch kept the door open for SIUE, and they only trailed by three with nine seconds left, but Beljan hit a free throw to push the lead to four with under a second left.
The Trojans have a quick turnaround as they play host to Eastern Illinois following the 1 p.m. Saturday at the Jack Stephens Center. EIU (3-8, 0-1) lost at Southeast Missouri State, 79-72 Thursday.
