Nov. 29, 2008

Box Score

Little Rock, AR - Leading most of the first half, Loyola Marymount, playing with just seven scholarship players, had Arkansas-Little Rock, who is favored to win the Sun Belt Conference, scrambling.

LMU built a seven-point lead and forced UALR to call three timeouts before the game was 12 minutes old. The Lions shot 56.8 percent from the field (21-for-37), 58.3 percent from long range and 83.3 percent from the free throw line. The Lions held UALR to just 41.7 percent shooting (25-for-60) and out-rebounded one of the best rebounding teams in the nation by nine (34-25). And on top of that, freshman Jarred DuBois had a career-high 23 points.

Despite having UALR on the ropes, the Lions could not overcome 26 turnovers. The extra possessions contributed to 23 more shots and 37 UALR points, leading the Trojans to a 67-59 win at the Jack Stephens Center on Saturday night.

"It is extremely frustrating. We had a chance to earn a win tonight," said Acting Head Coach Max Good. "We out-rebounded a really great rebounding team, and played our hearts out. I am really proud of our effort. However, you can't turnover the ball that much against a team that has a great chance to go to the NCAA tournament."

The Lions battered and thin roster brought out the best in its young squad. DuBois added four rebounds and two assists in 35 minutes while freshman LaRon Armstead added 11 points and seven rebounds in 36 minutes. Senior Corey Counts did one better with 39 minutes, scoring 11 points with four rebounds, two assists and a steal.

"We are so young and had yet another injury (Ashley Hamilton - back)," said Good. "We were picked to finish eighth and lost three starters from that eight, but yet this team battled their butts off. This team is getting better. It's coming. The experience these players are gaining, and getting better each day, will pay huge dividends. They really battled hard tonight."

The Lions jumped out to a 7-0 lead and held that lead for most of the second half. However, foul trouble mounted and the Trojans got hot from outside, including leading scorer Matt Mouzy. He finished with 21 points, 19 coming in the first half on 5-for-8 from the three-point line. The Trojans had nine of their 11 long balls in the first half as they erased the seven-point deficit and took a 40-29 lead at the break.

"All we talked about with No. 20 (Mouzy)," said Good. "We can't let him get his feet set. Our young guys were so concerned about not over committing, he was able to get his feet set and took over."

However, the Lions adjusted to a version of a box and one zone and Counts shadowed Mouzy everywhere, limiting him to just one fast break lay-up in the second half. As for DuBois, he took over in the second half, scoring 20 of his 23 points.

The Lions trailed 63-53 to play and staged one last push. DuBois hit a three-pointer and was fouled, cutting the lead to 63-57 with 2:42 to play after finishing the rare four-point play with the free throw.

On the next possession, UALR went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe and Counts hit a jumper in the lane to cut the lead to 64-59 with 1:34 to play. However, the Lions couldn't get closer as UALR had a big block on a Marko Deric three and went 3-for-4 at the charity stripe to close out the win.

The Lions conclude their three-game, 8,000-mile road trip at Arizona on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. (PT). The game can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM and seen on FSN Prime Ticket.