FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Troy 83,
SIUE 60
@Little Rock 77, Arkansas State 66
TROY 83, SIUE 60
TROY, Ala. - SIUE dropped its fourth road contest of the year Friday, falling 83-60 at Troy.
SIUE fell to 0-4 in true road games and 5-4 overall. Troy improved to 4-4 overall.
Troy led from the outset. Using an initial 13-2 run to push the lead to 16-4. The Trojans led 30-10 after a three-pointer from Aamer Muhammad at the media timeout at 7:58.
The Cougars used a 9-0 run late in the half to trim the lead back to 37-29 and trailed 41-31 at halftime.
Troy extended the lead to 13 points with three consecutive free throws after a foul in three-point territory early in the second half. The Cougars never got closer than 11 points in the half.
A 19-2 run by Troy gave the Trojans their largest lead at 31 points (78-47) with 5:37 left in the game. The Cougars used a late 11-0 run to cut the lead back to 78-58 with two minutes to play.
Troy forced the Cougars into 15 turnovers including 10 in the second half alone. SIUE recorded just three assists.
Troy connected on 50 percent of its shots overall (29-58) and from three-point range (10-20). SIUE was 24-59 (41 percent) and landed just 4 of 17 (24 percent) three-pointers.
Damarco Minor paced SIUE with 14 points. Ray'Sean Taylor scored 12 points and Shamar Wright scored 11 points.
Muhammad led Troy with 21 points. Christyon Eugene scored 12 points.
LITTLE ROCK 77, ARKANSAS STATE 66
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Little Rock men's basketball team used a strong offensive second half and forced 21 turnovers as the Trojans defeated their in-state rivals Arkansas State 77-66 at The Jack Stephens Center Friday. The Trojans had four players in double-figures, including DeAntoni Gordon who recorded a double-double with 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.
Gordon shot 6-of-12 from the field while bringing down six offensive boards in his career total.
Cougar Downing lead the team in points with 18, while Jamir Chaplin recorded 17 points going 6-of-14 from the field and knocking down a team-high three three-pointers. Bradley Douglas contributed 16 points in the win.
Arkansas State (2-6) took the early lead with a three-pointer, before a jumper by Gordon gave the Trojans (4-4) their first points of the game. After turnovers by both teams, the Trojans took their first lead of the game going on a 5-2 run sparked by a free throw by Jaylen Crocker-Johnson.
At the 13:19 mark, the Red Wolves went on an 8-2 run with Little Rock's two points from Gordon. A layup by Downing followed by two made free throws by Chaplin tied the score at 14.
Both teams exchanged baskets, before a three-pointer by Downing gave Little Rock the 24-22 lead.
With 59.2 left in the half, Arkansas State scored five-straight points while holding the Trojans to zero to go into the locker room with a 31-27 lead.
The second half started with a steal and a foul drawn by Chaplin, before Crocker-Johnson went 1-of-2 from the line. After a steal by Douglas, Downing hit a jumper to bring the Trojans within one. Chaplin followed it up with a three-pointer to give the Trojans a 33-31 advantage.
After the Red Wolves tied the score on a foul at the 15:36 mark, a Downing steal followed by a three-pointer by Gordon gave the advantage back to Little Rock 40-37.
Arkansas State took a two-point lead, before a jumper by Douglas sparked a 20-0 run by the Trojans including four three-pointers with two coming from Chaplin to lead 60-42.
A three-pointer by the Red Wolves sparked an 8-0 run, before a put back and steal and dunk by Chaplin put the Trojans back up 64-50.
Both teams knocked down points with the Trojans holding on for the 77-66 win.