With upset-minded Tennessee Tech shooting lights out and up by double figures in the second half, Little Rock was in danger of enduring a second straight home defeat. However, the Trojans responded with a big run midway through the second half to preserve a 79-75 win Thursday night at the Jack Stephens Center.
"I said, we were going to get ready to press and trap there and put [
Tuongthach Gatkek], at the five spot and put other guys out there that could drive and shoot the basketball and guard a little bit, and that is what we did. We pressed, and they turned the ball over."
Five Trojans scored in double figures led by
Isaiah Lewis,
Tuongthach Gatkek and
Mwani Wilkinson, who all scored 17 points. Wilkinson added nine rebounds and four steals and Gatkek grabbed six rebounds.
Jordan Jefferson celebrated his 23
rd birthday with 12 points.
Little Rock shot 49% from the field for the game and only committed 6 turnovers compared to Tech's 15 that the Trojans scored 21 points off. The numbers were in stark contrast to the cold shooting and 18 miscues that were detrimental in a loss to Southeast Missouri State Tuesday night.
"It gives you a chance to win the game when you shoot the basketball," Walker said. "We made some shots, and that gives you a chance. [In the loss to Southeast Missouri]our wings were 5-for-20 shooting, and we turned the ball over 18 times. We only turned the ball over six times tonight, and shot the ball well."
Rodney Johnson Jr.'s bucket with 13:30 to play gave the Golden Eagles, who led 43-38 at halftime, a 57-47 lead.
Walker called a timeout, and with the quicker lineup began to chip away. Lawson hit a pull-up jumper with 11:49 remaining to cut the lead to 59-55. Gatkek's whirling layup made it 61-59 game. Moments later Lawson drilled a three-pointer to give Little Rock its first lead (62-61) since 11:25 in the second half.
When the smoke cleared it was a 22-4 run, and the Trojans seized 69-61 advantage with 7:14 to play in the game.
However, John Pelphrey's bunch wasn't done yet, and cut led to 69-67 with 3:17 remaining bon a jumper by Johnson Jr.
Jefferson responded with a short jumper in the paint to move the margin back to four at the 1:57 mark. TTU scored five points in 10 seconds to cut the led to 78-75 with four seconds remaining but Jefferson hit one of two free throws to end the threat as time ran out.
"This was a do-or-die game," Walker said. "We had to have this one."
And the Trojans got some help in the standings as UT Martin upset SIUE on its home court so now Little Rock is in second place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings with SIUE in third.
"Now, we can rest up and get ready for next week," Jefferson said. "We are tired and banged up. It will be nice to have some days off."
The Trojans don't play again until next Thursday when they begin Homecoming festivities with Lindenwood and wrap up the home portion of the regular season with Western Illinois, which is the Homecoming game and Senior Day.
