Box Score Little Rock has caught fire, and it has done it on the road. The Trojans (12-7, 6-2) won their fourth game in a row, and their third on the road, Thursday night in a 62-51 victory Thursday night against Western Illinois at Western Hall. Little Rock looks to make to it five straight Saturday afternoon at Lindenwood.
There were four lead changes in the game, but they all came in the first half as the Trojans held the lead for 36:38 of the game. The Trojans led 35-26 at halftime after leading by as many as 11 in the first 20 minutes.
The advantage climbed to 14 in the second half and was never less than seven.
Johnathan Lawson scored 16 of his game-high 25 points in the first half. He added 3 assists and 2 rebounds.
Ante Beljan chipped in 12 points and 6 rebounds. Emwani Wilkinson only scored five points, but he grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and recorded 2 steals. Toungthach Gatkek totaled a career-high 10 rebounds.
Sean Smith led WIU with 16 points and 7 rebounds. Marko Maletic added 15 points and was 4-of-6 from the three-point line. He is one of the top three-point shooters in the nation, but he made the only four shots out of the 18 the team attempted.
Maletic tried to give the Leathernecks (8-12, 2-7) life when he hit a three-pointer with 7:52 left to trim the lead to 52-45. However, that is the closest the Leathernecks came as
Isaiah Lewis immediately responded with a short jumper and Beljan's put-back in the paint moved the lead back to 11 with 6:15 remaining.
