UT Arlington Remains Unbeaten in Southland with Win in Arena Debut
UT
Arlington 67, UTSA 66
ARLINGTON, Texas - The College Park Center is destined to host its
fair share of high-quality basketball games over the years, but it will be hard
to top Wednesday night's inaugural contest.
UT Arlington (16-5, 8-0 Southland) and UTSA (14-8, 6-2 Southland)
locked horns in an intense seesaw affair that ended with the Mavericks
remaining undefeated in conference play following a 67-66 victory. The win was
the 12th in a row for UTA.
UTA's Karol Gruszecki and LaMarcus Reed knocked down back-to-back
3-pointers to turn a one-point deficit into a 65-60 lead for the Mavericks with
just four minutes left. The Mavericks didn't score again until Kevin Butler
sank a pair of free throws with 13.7 seconds left, but was able to stay on top,
67-64.
UTSA missed on a game-tying 3-point attempt on their ensuing
possession and the putback at the buzzer was not enough.
Reed finished with 24 points, including 19 in the first half.
Kevin Butler added 21, including the winning point.
On the night, UTA held the Roadrunners to just 37 percent shooting
and out-rebounded UTSA 46-33.
A school-record crowd of 6,228 was on hand to witness the historic
night.
UT Arlington returns
to the court Saturday at 4 p.m. at Central Arkansas while UTSA visit Lamar Saturday
at 2p.m.
Visit www.utamavs.com or www.goutsa.com for more about this game.
Northwestern State 79, Central
Arkansas 68
CONWAY, Ark. - Sophomore Gary Stewart sparked an early comeback
that put visiting Northwestern State in control Wednesday as the Demons picked
up their fourth consecutive win, sinking a season-best 60 percent of their
shots in a 79-68 Southland Conference victory at Central Arkansas.
Northwestern (13-9 overall, 6-2 Southland) got 13 points each from
Stewart, Gary Roberson and Shamir Davis, while William Mosley added 10. Mosley
notched five blocks to raise his career total to 426, moving him from 17th to
13th all time on the NCAA career blocked shots list.
The Demons had 12 steals and blocked nine shots. The Bears still
hit 46 percent overall, but went 0 for 10 on 3-pointers, failing to make one
for the first time in 11 seasons - after draining 10 of 23 on Jan. 23 in Natchitoches
to upset Northwestern 77-73.
LaQuentin Miles led UCA with 20 points while Mark Rutledge added
12.
Davis had six assists and four steals for the Demons, who return
home Saturday to play host to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 2 p.m. Central
Arkansas plays host to UT Arlington Saturday at 4 p.m.
Visit www.nsudemons.com or www.ucasports.com for more about this game.
McNeese
State 71, Sam Houston State 61
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - McNeese State ran its win streak to three games
with a 67-61 victory over Sam Houston State Wednesday night.
The Cowboys, now 6-2 in Southland Conference play, remained in a
tie for first place in the East Division with Northwestern State, which won its
game Wednesday against Central Arkansas.
McNeese also evened its record at 10-10 with the victory dropping
Sam Houston State to 8-14 overall and to 2-6 in league play.
Jeremie Mitchell, Patrick Richard and Dontae Cannon came up big
for the Cowboys in the scoring column as Mitchell led the team with 16 points,
Richard had 15 and Cannon 12.
McNeese hit a blistering 61.5 percent of its field goals in the
first half as the Cowboys ran off to a 41-30 lead at the intermission. Their shooting in the second half wasn't as
accurate but they still finished with a 55.8 percentage, making 24 of 43. They
also hit 50 percent of their three point shots in that opening period (3 of 6).
McNeese returns to action Sunday when they play host Stephen F. Austin
at 2 p.m. Sam Houston State visits Southeastern Louisiana Saturday at 6 p.m.
Visit www.mcneesesports.com or www.bearkatsports.com for more about
this game.
Stephen F. Austin 71, Texas State 63
NACOGDOCHES,
Texas - Jereal Scott pumped in 27 points and pulled down a season-high 11
rebounds and the Lumberjacks never trailed, rolling past Texas State 71-63 on
Wednesday at William R. Johnson Coliseum.
Scott, who was
coming off a one of his worst performances of the season from the field in
Saturday's win at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, was nearly perfect from the
field on Wednesday, hitting 11-of-12 from the floor and 5-for-8 from the foul
line to notch his second double-double of the year and seventh of his career.
His work down
low, coupled with a dominating performance on the glass that saw SFA (12-9, 6-2
Southland) rip down 39 boards to just 18 for the Bobcats (8-13, 1-7 Southland)
helped SFA cruise to their 18th win in its last 21 meetings versus Texas State
and sweep the season series.
SFA had to
overcome 23 turnovers which resulted in 27 Bobcat points, but was able to do so
by shooting a season-best 60.5 percent from the floor, including 63.6 percent
in the first half alone.
Jonathan King
added 15 points and four rebounds, while Taylor Smith had eight points and six
rebounds off the bench.
The Lumberjacks
have won three consecutive games and will try to make it four in a row at
McNeese State Sunday at 2 p.m. Texas State plays at Nicholls State Saturday at
3:30 p.m.
Visit www.sfajacks.com or www.txstatebobcats.com for more about
this game.
Lamar 83, Southeastern Louisiana 59
HAMMOND, La. - Senior guard Brandon Davis poured in a game-high 21
points in leading Lamar to an 83-59 victory over Southeastern Louisiana at the
University Center on Wednesday.
The Cardinals' 24-point victory is their largest ever in Hammond,
and gives Lamar its second consecutive road win over the Lions. Lamar, which
improved to 14-8 overall and 5-3 in league action, will host UTSA on Saturday
afternoon at 2 p.m. from the Montagne Center.
After shooting 44.8 percent from the floor in the first half, the
Cards improved to 56.7 percent in the second half to leave little doubt as to
the outcome of the game. Lamar built a 44-24 lead at the half and the Lions
(8-12, 2-6) would get no closer than 20 the rest of the game.
Senior guard Anthony Miles finished with 19 points.
Lamar dominated nearly every phase of the game, including out-rebounding
the Lions 37-24 and committing six less turnovers (15-9). The Cardinals
exploited the Southeastern miscues, finishing with a robust 26-5 advantage in
points off turnovers.
Southeastern plays host to Sam Houston State Saturday at 4 p.m.
Visit www.lamarcardinals.com
or www.lionsports.net for more about
this game.
Nicholls State
65, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 61
THIBODAUX, La. - Powered
by 15 second half points, Dantrell Thomas scored a career-high 23 in helping Nicholls
State defeat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 65-61 on Wednesday.
Thomas was
8-of-14 from the field and 4-of-7 from beyond the arc to lead all scorers in
the win, with Sam McBeath finishing one shy of his career best, scoring 18
points with seven rebounds.
The Colonels
(6-15, 2-7 Southland) led by as many as six points in the second half, but
leads in the game would be hard to hold on to, as Nicholls and the Islanders
(4-17, 3-6 Southland) traded them 15 times with just four ties.
The Colonels
finished the night shooting 43 percent from the floor, connecting on eight
3-pointers in the win, and going 13-for-18 from the charity stripe.
The Colonels
return to action Saturday at home against Texas State at 3:30 p.m.
A&M-Corpus Christi visits Northwestern State Saturday at 2 p.m.
Visit www.geauxcolonels.com or www.goislanders.com for more about this
game.