LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Solomon Bozeman had 17 points, and Arkansas-Little Rock shot 58 percent as the host-Trojans took a 77-71 over New Orleans on Saturday.
The Trojans (8-21, 4-14 Sun Belt Conference) put five all five starters in double figures, as Courtney Jackson had 14 points, while Derrick Bails added 13. Alex Garcia-Mendoza and Matt Mouzy tallied 11 and 10 points, respectively.
UALR shot 65 percent in the second half. The win helped the Trojans avoid a home-and home sweep against UNO (8-21, 3-15), which beat UALR in overtime on Jan. 14.
Sophomore forward
Johann Mpondo tied his career high with 15 points to pace the Privateers. The Cameroon product was 6-of-13 from the field and added a team-best seven rebounds. Freshman point guard
Carl Blair had 14 points, and
Jaroslav Tyrna finished off a solid week with 12.
Quincy Diggs and
Devin McDonald each finished with 11 points.
The Privateers struggled from the field, shooting 43 percent overall but just 32 percent in the first half.
UNO grabbed a 2-0 lead before the game even started thanks to technical foul on UALR for dunking during pregame warmups. But the Privateers would never lead again after the Trojans started the game on a 9-1 run.
The Trojans led by as many as 19 with 7:54 remaining. UNO did score 33 points in the final eight minutes and made 11 3-pointers overall.
With the loss, UNO will be the No. 13 seed in next week's Sun Belt Conference Tournament and will face No. 4 seed Western Kentucky on Saturday in Hot Springs, Ark.
