Texas Southern senior Jonathan Cisse beat the buzzer in the first half Saturday night but not the second half, giving the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff a big road win.
The UAPB men’s basketball team defeated the preseason SWAC favorites 70-67 to pick up its first conference win this season.
UAPB (6-10, 1-2 SWAC) rallied with a 43-point second half after trailing 34-27 at halftime. Sophomore forward Robert Lewis gave the Golden Lions the lead with 7:23 remaining, and UAPB led the rest of the way.
Texas Southern (3-11, 1-2) kept it close, cutting the lead to as little as 62-61, but the Tigers never tied it.
TSU forward Grayson Carter twice cut the lead to 2 points in the final 2 minutes. His free throw with 13 seconds remaining made it 67-65. UAPB senior Lonnell Martin Jr. made two crucial free throws on the other end to give the Golden Lions a two-possession lead.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Cisse then scored a quick layup for the Tigers. UAPB’s inbounds pass got loose, but Martin fell on it and UAPB called timeout before TSU could force the jump ball. The Tigers would have gotten possession down 69-67. Instead, TSU had to foul Kaine McColley.
McColley missed the first free throw but made the second. Cisse ran down the sideline and shot what would have been a game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer but hit iron as the Golden Lions escaped Houston with a big win.
Cisse scored a game-high 21 points, a new season high for him. Preseason SWAC player of the year PJ Henry, who missed TSU’s previous game, played only 18 minutes and scored 3 points.
Kylen Milton led the Golden Lions with 20 points, followed by Martin with 16. UAPB shot 9 of 27 from 3-point range, while TSU was just 2 of 22.
The Golden Lions led for much of the first half, but junior Kehlin Farooq gave TSU a 23-20 lead with a dunk and a 3-point play just over 5 minutes before halftime. Caleb Stokes gave UAPB the lead back by scoring the next 4 points, including a dunk of his own, but TSU ended the half on an 11-3 run, with Cisse scoring 6 points in the final 3:26 of the first half.
Cisse beat the halftime buzzer with a difficult shot, giving TSU a 34-27 halftime lead.
The Tigers grew their lead to as much as 10 points in the second half, but the Golden Lions fought back. Martin tied the game with a 3-point play before Lewis hit his go-ahead layup. A shot by Trejon Ware and a 3-pointer by Joe French capped off a 14-1 run, which gave UAPB a 61-55 lead with 6:15 to play. The Golden Lions never trailed again.
UAPB finishes its first SWAC road trip today at Prairie View A&M.