Little Rock, AR – (Contributed) – Arkansas State men’s basketball (7-3, 0-0 SBC) netted a season-high 12 three-pointers en route to a 90-78 victory at Little Rock (3-5, 0-0 OVC) on Saturday night inside the Jack Stephens Center.
TJ Caldwell led the team with 19 points and Fredy-Salam Sylla posted a career high of 16 while Matt Hayman (15) and Royal Blue Smith (11) also reached double figures. Jalen Hampton recorded the most rebounds by a Red Wolf this season with 12.
As a team, A-State shot 34-for-69 (49.3 percent) from the field, 13-for-37 (35.1 percent) from beyond the arc, and 9-for-9 (100 percent) from the free-throw line. The Scarlet and Black held a 42-24 advantage on the boards and outscored the Trojans 36-0 off the bench.
A layup for the opposition tied the game at 7-7 with 17:18 to go in the first half, but a tip-in layup from Chudi Dioramma sparked a 10-0 run highlighted by back-to-back triples from Sylla and Blue. The Trojans attempted to close the gap with five points in their following two possessions, but the Red Wolves countered with back-to-back layups to make the score 21-12 at the 12:46 mark.
Little Rock held a 12-11 edge over the next 6:05 before Sylla and Hayman connected on another pair of triples to extend the lead to 14 points. The Scarlet and Black surrendered a 13-3 run and went scoreless for 2:50, but Hayman broke the cold stretch on a three-point basket with 53 seconds on the clock.
Both sides exchanged layups before time expired to make the score 46-39 entering intermission. The Red Wolves shot 9-for-19 (47.4 percent) from three-point range in the first 20 minutes, the most in a half this season.
A-State held a narrow 52-48 lead at the 16:33 mark before Sylla converted a three-point play and countered a jumper with a shot from beyond the arc. Hampton landed a dunk on the next possession and Hayman added a layup to reach 10 points and extend the lead to double digits.
The Red Wolves and Trojans exchanged three-point baskets before Chandler Jackson converted a three-point play and made the score 72-59 with 10:10 to go. Little Rock closed the gap to nine points before a layup from Blue plus a triple from Caldwell extended it to 12.
Momentum shifted to the opposition beginning at the 7:22 mark, as a 9-0 run cut the advantage to 77-74 entering the final stretch. Caldwell ended a 3:25 scoreless stretch for the Red Wolves with a layup and sparked a 9-2 run to make the score 86-76.
The opposition would be limited to one basket beyond that point as A-State secured a fourth consecutive win.
NEXT UP
A-State travels to Houston, Texas, for a matchup against Rice on Saturday, Dec. 13, with tipoff scheduled for 2:00 p.m. inside Tudor Fieldhouse. The matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+
