10 Jan 2024 Little Rock’s second-half lead slips away

The Little Rock men’s basketball team had a second-half lead slip away late Saturday, resulting in a 90-88 conference loss to Eastern Illinois at the Jack Stephens Center. The Trojans (8-9, 2-2 OVC) led by eight with 7:30 to play, but the visiting Panthers (8-8, 2-1 OVC) went ahead for good with three minutes to play and held off the Trojans despite trailing for more than 30 minutes of game time.

Jamir Chaplin led the Trojans with 19 points to go with four rebounds, KK Robinson added 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting with seven assists and five boards, Bradley Douglas hit 6-of-8 from long range to finish with 18 points and five rebounds, and DeAntoni Gordon had 15 points (7-of-9 shooting) and a team-high seven rebounds.

Little Rock led by as many as 12 points in the first half and 11 in the second and carried the lead for a total of 30:44, but the Trojans were plagued by a minus-9 turnover differential that resulted in EIU outscoring Little Rock 21-9 off turnovers. The Panthers forced 17 turnovers and committed just nine.

Tiger Booker led all players with 31 points, including a perfect 10-of-10 from the foul line. He also had four steals for the Panthers. Corey Sawyer Jr. added 19 points and Kyndall Davis pumped in 17 points while pulling down seven boards. Both teams shot better than 50 percent on the night, with Little Rock finishing at 55.6 percent (31-of-56) and Eastern Illinois shooting at a 51.6 percent clip (32-of-62).

Little Rock led from the onset before EIU took its first lead, 12-11, at the 16:32 mark of the first half. The Trojans used a 7-0 run to break a tie score and go ahead 29-22 with 7:16 to play before halftime. EIU climbed back within four but the Trojans went on an 8-0 run to take a 43-31 lead at the 2:27 mark in the first half and eventually led by seven at the break.

Gordon put the Trojans in front by 11 with 13:44 to play in the game but the Panthers responded with 11 straight to tie the game at 64-64 midway into the half. Another 8-0 Trojan run made it 74-66 with 7:30 to play before EIU ripped off seven unanswered and tied it at 74 apiece. The Panthers took the lead for good (78-77) with 2:55 to play and led by as many as five in the final minutes to hold off the home team.

Little Rock will have a week to prepare for its next outing, a road date at UT Martin on Saturday, Jan. 13.