Kansas City
UALR
UALR Uses Second Half Rally to Knock Off 'Roos, 73-68
11/22/2014 6:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball
(Little Rock, Ark.) - UMKC led for more than 26 minutes on Saturday afternoon in Little Rock, but a second half run by UALR was enough for the Trojans to take a 73-68 men's basketball victory in the Regional Round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
“I thought we were effective in the first 12 or 13 minutes with our defense,” Head Coach Kareem Richardson said, “But (our defense) was non-existent after that. Another factor was our free throw shooting. We didn't hit very many, and they did.”
The Kangaroos (2-2) jumped in front at the 15:57 mark, and built their lead to as many as eight with 13:14 on the clock. The UMKC pressure was giving the Trojans (2-1) plenty of issues, forcing 12 turnovers in the first 12 minutes, and built the lead to 10 with 7:04 on the clock, but that's when UALR started to gain a little traction.
It cut the lead to three with 5:27 left, before a three by UMKC senior Frank Williams pushed the momentum back in the 'Roos favor. An old-fashioned three-point play by Martez Harrison with 27 seconds left in the half gave the 'Roos a six-point edge, but UALR hit a layup with seven seconds before the break to trail only 34-30 at the half.
Williams was the catalyst for the 'Roos in the period, scoring 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting. The Trojans kept Harrison out of the game for the most part, face-guarding, denying him the ball, and helping on him with multiple players, essentially a box-and-one defense.
The 'Roos came out strong to start the second half as well, hitting threes by Reese Holliday and Deshon Taylor to get it back to 10. The 'Roos held tight for the next several minutes, and extended their lead back to eight on another Holliday three to make it 49-41 with 11:54 to play.
That's when UALR rallied. It went on an 11-0 run that spanned just more than two minutes, turning UMKC turnovers and misses into quick points on the other end to take a 52-48 lead. The Trojans had dunks on four straight possessions at one point, and they led for the rest of the night.
UMKC couldn't string together enough stops or hit enough free throws down the stretch to get within a possession in the final three minutes.
For the game, UMKC went only 9-of-20 from the line, while UALR hit 19-of-26 attempts. The 'Roos forced 21 turnovers from the Trojans, but turned it over 18 times themselves. The other difference was the second half offense for UALR, as it his 59 percent from the floor.
The 'Roos were led by Harrison and Williams with 15 points each, while Holliday had the biggest night with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Williams and Holliday's totals were both season-highs. Shayok Shayok also set a career-best with 11 boards, while Taylor had 10 points for the first time in his career. Harrison had 10 of his points in the second half.
The 'Roos will play in the consolation game of the EA Sports Maui Invitational Mainland regional on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. against Samford, who fell to CSUN.
