Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

LAFAYETTE, La. — The road magic continues.

The UALR men’s basketball team, a 19-point loser to Louisiana-Lafayette just three weeks ago at home, went into the Cajundome on Thursday and shocked the Ragin' Cajuns 72-70 in overtime, extending its winning streak to four games and improving to 9-2 in the Sun Belt Conference.

Senior D’Andre Williams led the Trojans (12-13) in scoring for the fifth-straight game with a career-high 24 points to help UALR remain in first place in the West Division.

UALR hit two 3-pointers in the final 10 seconds to force overtime, the last of which came from sophomore Chuck Guy with 0.8 seconds left, and then outlasted the Ragin’ Cajuns (14-12, 8-4) in the extra period to avenge its 68-49 loss to ULL on Jan. 19 in Little Rock.

“I’m proud of our guys. We weren’t perfect by any means, but if we continue to bring intensity and effort to the floor on a consistent basis we can compete on a nightly basis,” UALR Coach Steve Shields said. “We just have to continue to try and get better every day. We know we’ve got another tough challenge coming up on Saturday against a very talented, well-coached team.”

UALR returns to action Saturday when it travels to Murfreesboro, Tenn. to square off against East Division-leader Middle Tennessee at noon. The game featuring the top two teams in the Sun Belt will be televised by ESPN2.

Williams went 7 of 16 and 10 of 13 from the free-throw line en route to his career-high performance, while getting three steals and five assists against just one turnover. He scored nine of the team’s first 16 points and put the Trojans on top for good by opening the overtime session with a jumper.

The Amarillo, Texas native was one of four Trojans to score 10 or more points in the victory, as Guy and sophomore Will Neighbour chipped in 14 apiece, while senior Courtney Jackson added 11. Jackson fell one rebound shy of a double-double, grabbing a team-high nine to push his career total over 500.

ULL rallied from a 71-67 deficit in overtime to close to 71-70, but was unable to reclaim the lead. The Ragin’ Cajuns had the ball with 12 seconds left and down by a point, but Elfrid Payton committed a turnover and Guy made 1 of 2 free throws with 9.9 seconds remaining to put the Trojans on top 72-70. ULL had one last chance to even things up, but J.J. Thomas missed a jumper as time expired.

Kadeem Coleby led the Ragin’ Cajuns with 18 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots while going 8 of 10. Thomas added 13 points and nine rebounds.

The Trojans committed fewer than 10 turnovers for the fourth-consecutive game, turning it over just eight times while forcing the Ragin’ Cajuns into 17. ULL held the Trojans to a .387 field goal percentage and won the rebound battle 43-37, but squandered a five-point lead with just 39 seconds left by missing crucial free throws.

With his team up 61-58 and under a minute to play, Payton earned three trips to the free-throw line over the next 40 seconds, but converted just 2 of 6 attempts. ULL held 63-58 lead with 39 seconds left after Payton made 1 of 2 free throws, but it would not hold up. Williams brought the Trojans within four by going 1 for 2 at the line, and then Neighbour sank a 3-pointer with 9.6 seconds to go to bring the Trojans within 63-62 after Payton missed two free throws.

Bryant Mbamalu sank both of his free throws with 8.1 seconds left to put the Ragin’ Cajuns back on top 65-62, but Guy connected from the top of the 3-point line as the clock wound down to send the game into overtime.

Field goals by Williams, senior Tramar Sutherland and freshman Michael Javes allowed the Trojans to take a 71-67 lead with 2:35 left in overtime.

Williams took charge early on for the Trojans, scoring nine points over the first 5:20 to help UALR run out to a 16-4 lead. But the Ragin' Cajuns regrouped and took a 29-26 lead into halftime.

Information for this report was provided by the UALR sports information department.