DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Little Rock Men's Basketball team closed out the 2023-24 season on Sunday as the Trojans lost 82-75 to Fairfield in the opening round of the Ro College Basketball Invitational. Four Trojans scored in double figures as the Trojans shot 50% from the field for the game.
Jordan Jefferson led all scorers with 20 points, his second 20-plus game of the season. He also led the team in three-point field goals made with four.
KK Robinson was just shy of his second triple-double of the season with 17 points, a team-high seven rebounds, and a team-high eight assists.
Jamir Chaplin also contributed 17 points and six rebounds, while
Jaylen Crocker-Johnson recorded ten points and six rebounds.
Fairfield knocked down 13 three-pointers in the game including seven in the second half while going to the free throw line 24 times to the Trojans seven. Each team recorded 16 turnovers with Fairfield outscoring Little Rock 17-3 from the bench. The Trojans won the battle in the paint outscoring the Stags 30-22.
Little Rock opened the first half with a three-pointer by Jefferson, before Fairfield answered with a jumper. After both teams exchanged points, Fairfield knocked down eight-straight points while holding the Trojans scoreless for over three minutes to take the 13-7 lead.
The Trojans cut into the lead with five-straight points including a three by Jefferson, before Fairfield extended their lead back to five at the 11:01 mark.
A jumper by Crocker-Johnson sparked a 10-0 run including two three-pointers by Robinson to regain the 22-17 advantage.
Little Rock maintained the lead throughout the rest of the half despite a Fairfield surge with 1:17 remaining where the Stags knocked down three-straight to cut the lead to three. The Trojans ended the half with a jumper and take the 41-36 advantage.
Fairfield opened the second half on a 11-2 run including three-straight three pointers to take the 48-43 lead. Little Rock scored their first points in two minutes with a jumper by Jefferson, before the Stags scored six-straight for their largest lead of 55-45 with 13:36 remaining.
Over the next two minutes, the Trojans outscored Fairfield 7-3 with all of the points coming from Robinson to cut the Stags' lead to 58-52 at the 11:06 mark.
With 5:23 left, Jefferson scored five-straight points on a three-pointer and a steal and layup to bring the Trojans back within five points of the lead at 69-64.
After five points by Fairfield, back-to-back three-pointer by Chaplin including one off a five second turnover pulled the Trojans within four with 2:05 remaining.
Over the next minute, Jefferson scored five points for Little Rock to Fairfield's four free throws to bring the Trojans within three 78-75 with 48.9 left in the game.
In the remaining 29.2 seconds, Fairfield made four free throws to win 82-75.
For the latest information on Little Rock Basketball, make sure to check out
LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockMBB on
Facebook,
Instagram and
Twitter.
Get the latest Trojan news – including the weekly Trojan Report – delivered to you direct to your inbox by
signing up for Little Rock Trojan E-News here.
#LittleRocksTeam
Print Friendly Version
