Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Little Rock men's basketball team was playing from behind from the onset in a 95-86 loss to Tennessee State Saturday afternoon at the Gentry Center.
The Trojans (8-6, 2-1) trailed by 12 at halftime and after showing some signs of life early in the second half fell behind by 20 with just over 13 minutes left. However, Little Rock didn't quit and cut the lead to single digits late but ran out of time.
Ante Beljan led all scorers with a career-high 33 points and 11 rebounds.
Johnathan Lawson scored 16 points and dished out 6 assists with 4 rebounds.
Mwani Wilkinson chipped in 12 points.
After trailing by 12 at halftime, freshman
Caleb Pennyfeather's three-pointer cut the lead to 47-40 with just over two minutes into the half.
A 14-3 TSU run gave the Tigers a 63-43 lead with 13:18 to play in the game. They kept control the rest of the way, but Little Rock did make things interesting shaving the lead to seven on Beljan's hoop with 56 seconds remaining. The lead was five around 20 seconds later after two Beljan free throws. Justus Jackson's pair of made free throws with 35 seconds left stopped the threat.
Travis Harper II led TSU (5-10, 1-3) with 20 points. Ronald Jessamy added 16 points and 9 boards.
Little Rock fell behind nine early in the first half but climbed back into the game. Christian Popov hit just his second field goal of the season following a three-pointer by Wilkinson to cut the lead to 14-12 with 11:40 left in the half.
It was a 25-22 game with 6:47 to play in the half, but TSU made a run. The spurt was ignited by a foul on a three-pointer by Harper. He made all three free throws. TSU led by eight moments later and capped a 12-2 run with a dunk by Ronald Jessamy, and the Tigers led 40-26 with 1:55 left.
The Trojans cut it to 10 with under a minute left but couldn't get any closer and trailed by 12 at the half.
The Trojans begin a two-game homestand starting Thursday night with Morehead State (8-7, 3-1) at 7 p.m. at the Jack Stephens Center.
