Rice University
0-4
Arkansas-Little Rock
5-1
Arkansas-Little Rock Stifles Owls, 59-52
11/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2007
HOUSTON (AP) -- Arkansas-Little Rock scored the game's final eight points, knocking down six of its last eight free throws to beat Rice 59-52 in Reliant Arena Tuesday.
With the win, UALR improved to 5-1 while Rice dropped to 0-4 on the year.
UALR was able to put together a 12-0 run midway through the second half to build a 41-34 lead. The Owls enjoyed their biggest lead of the game with 15:06 to play on a Paulius Packevicius layin to put Rice up 34-29. But UALR's Steven Moore would answer with a three-pointer at the other end for the Trojans and kick start the Trojans' run. Junior forward Shane Edwards would score off an offensive rebound and later connect on a three-pointer during the Trojan rally.
A Jasen Williams' jumper in the paint stopped the Owl scoreless streak and Rice would come back to lead by one later in the half.
Cory Pflieger's three-pointer at the 4:02 mark gave Rice its last lead at 52-51. Both teams turned the ball over before Mike Smith's layin gave UALR the lead for good, 53-52 with 2:05 to play.
Williams would turn the ball over on the Owls' ensuing possession and John Fowler made the first of two free throws to stretch UALR's lead to 54-52 with 1:37 to play. After an Owl timeout, Pflieger would miss a three-pointer but Rice would get another opportunity to tie or take the lead when Packevicius came up with a steal with 46 seconds to play. Williams would miss a jumper and at the other end De'Andre Eggins made a pair of free throws to extend the UALR lead to 56-52 with 20 seconds left.
Eggins would lead UALR with 12 points and also had six rebounds. The Trojans had three players finish with six or more boards as they outrebounded Rice 39-23. Moore added 11 points and had three assists for UALR.
Williams and Pfliegler each finished with 13 points to lead Rice in scoring. Williams, a true freshman, also had four assists but turned the ball over five times in his second career start. Packevicius fell a point shy of his third double-double of the season, finishing with nine points and 10 rebounds.
Rice is back in action this weekend at the Hawkeye Challenge hosted by the University of Iowa. The Owls' next home game is Dec. 8 when they play host to Texas in the Toyota Center. UALR begins a four-game home stand Saturday when they play host to Conference USA member Tulsa. .
