Rice University
5-7
Arkansas-Little Rock
8-4
Rice Grabs Road Win at UALR
12/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2008
Final Stats
Rice vs. UALR Game Book in PDF Format 
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Rodney Foster and Lawrence Ghoram each scored 16 points as Rice came back from a sluggish start to beat UALR 79-72 Sunday afternoon at the Jack Stephens Center.
Rice trailed by as many as nine points on more than one occasion in the first half but the Owls shot 55 percent in the second period en route to the team's first road win of the year. With the victory, Rice improved to 5-7 heading into a New Year's Eve game against Texas A&M in Tudor Fieldhouse. Tip-off for Wednesday's game is 3 p.m. UALR is now 8-4.
After consecutive dunks by Rice sophomore forward Suleiman Braimoh on back-to-back possessions, Lucas Kuipers scored on four of the Owls' next five possessions. Kuipers' converted a three-point play to give Rice its first lead of the second half, 47-46 with 12:52 to play.
During the stretch, Kuipers made a pair of three-pointers and also had a short jumper before being fouled on a layup. He went on to finish with 15 points, going 6-for-12 from the field.
UALR would never lead again but did tie the game up twice before Trey Stanton broke the final deadlock with a bucket after he had pulled down a rebound at the other end of the floor.
The Owls later built their biggest lead when Cory Pflieger nailed a three-pointer and after a defensive board, Stanton got inside for a dunk that gave the Owls a 65-59 lead with 3:55 to play.
Stanton finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Rodney Foster would make the first of his eight free throws with 2:20 left to play, and at the other end of the floor, stole the ball from John Fowler. The turnover would lead to a Lawrence Ghoram jumper and the Owls' lead was 69-62 with 1:46 remaining.
Rice then made 10 of its final 12 free throws to ice the victory.
Ghoram was 7-for-9 from the field and also had five rebounds in 19 minutes of play off the bench. Foster added six assists, four rebounds and two steals.
The Owls also outrebounded UALR 39-27 and 15 offensive rebounds led to 20 second-chance points.
UALR was led by Fowler who scored a game-high 23 points.
Rice missed seven-of-eight shots from the field at one point early in the game and UALR jumped out to a 17-8 lead with 11:30 to play in the half. But Rice erased most of the advantage and trailed 34-31 at the break.
UALR made just four of its final 14 shots from the field in the half and the Owls scored the final five points of the period. Trailing 34-26, Foster drained a three-pointer with 1:33 to play before intermission and a breakaway led to a Rice tip-in by Braimoh with five seconds remaining.
