HOUSTON, TX – The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff men’s basketball team lost to the Tigers of Texas Southern with a final score of 90-71 on Saturday evening at the TSU H&PE Arena.
Shawn Williams led all scorers with a game-high of 30 points, shooting 52 percent from the field and 75 percent from the perimeter. Sixteen of his 30 points came from the first half, where he shot 80 percent from three, and the other 14 came in the second half, where he shot 66 percent from the perimeter.
Kylen Milton finished the ball game with 13 points and three rebounds.
Dequan Morris added nine points and three rebounds.
AJ Stredic followed with eight points and grabbed six rebounds in his home state.
On his 24th birthday, Williams woke up pumped for the matchup against Texas Southern. From the tip of the game, Williams instantly caught the hot hand, knocking down a highly contested three-pointer to get things going early.
The Texas Southern defense thought they could contain Williams early by double-teaming him close to the arch, but with his unlimited range, Williams would let it go from around 35 feet, resulting in nothing but net, giving the Tigers more to worry about.
TSU then tried to drive Williams into the paint amongst the trees, but with his precise decision-making skills and impactful jump shot, Williams found a way to sink shots allowing Texas Southern to not come up with an answer.
However, after two Williams free throws, Texas Southern would score on two consecutive possessions to gain the lead over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, causing UAPB to fall behind 44-32 going into halftime.
A Morris steal and two-hand finish at the rim to open the second half got everybody in a gold thread fired up to make a comeback against Texas Southern, but the Tigers answered back immediately with a three-pointer and a dunk, taking off with the lead.
Texas Southern took a 90-66 advantage before UAPB went on a 5-0 run to shrink the deficit to 90-71 with 1:09 to go, but The Golden Lions could not cut further into the deficit by the end of the game, falling 90-71.
The Golden Lions will conclude the second game of their Texas tour on Monday against Prairie View A&M at 7:30 p.m.
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