The hot start to SWAC play is long over, and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff will spend the next two weeks on the road looking to bounce back.
The UAPB men’s basketball team will travel to Louisiana this weekend to face Southern at 5 p.m. at the F.G. Clark Activity Center in Baton Rouge before facing Grambling State at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center in Grambling. SWAC TV will stream both games. The GSU game was postponed by one day to Tuesday due to the winter storm expected this weekend.
UAPB (6-13, 3-3 SWAC) has lost three straight games after starting conference play 3-0. The Golden Lions averaged 86.3 points in their three wins but have failed to reach 70 in regulation in their three losses.
Head Coach Solomon Bozeman said the Golden Lions need to avoid turnovers to get back to winning.
“We just gotta take care of that basketball and do it at an elite level,” Bozeman said. “The games that we’ve done our goal number, we’ve been successful. So, we gotta get back to taking care of that basketball, and we’ve gotta keep guys off the glass. We’ve shown we can do it. We’ve done it in our wins, so we gotta do it and be consistent with it.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Despite the drop-off in scoring, UAPB wasn’t that far from being 5-1. The Golden Lions lost to Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman last week by a combined 9 points, with the BCU loss coming in overtime.
Against the Rattlers, UAPB led 62-61 with 1:47 remaining but lost the lead to a 4-point play 19 seconds later and never led again. Against BCU, UAPB led by as much as 17 before the Wildcats rallied. The Golden Lions led 69-67 with 58 seconds left but gave up two game-tying free throws before missing the would-be game-winning shot at the end of regulation.
With those losses, UAPB is now 2-4 this season in games decided by a single-digit margin. Bozeman said the Golden Lions need better execution and discipline in close games.
“We always talk about discipline, coming down the stretch and knowing what shots we need to take on the offensive end,” Bozeman said. “On the defensive end, just being disciplined. Rebounding, finishing every rebound with the two hands instead of going with one. Just little key things that we gotta be better at that we preach every day.”
Southern (7-11, 3-2) enters Saturday on a two-game winning streak after defeating BCU 77-73 and Grambling 71-53 on the road. The Jaguars are one of two teams in the SWAC averaging more points per game than UAPB and have the league’s best shooting percentage, 45.3%.
Senior guard Michael Jacobs is averaging 20.7 points per game, third in the SWAC. His 4.2 assists per game rank third in the conference. UAPB senior guard Quion Williams leads with 6.2. The Jaguars also get 11.9 points per game from forward Malek Abdelgowad, who typically plays from the bench.
The Jags lead the conference with 36.1 rebounds per game. Williams said the Golden Lions need to stay out of foul trouble and work as a team to get more rebounds.
“I feel like we have a couple guys who help us rebound, we get in foul trouble,” Williams said. “So, we want to start there, and then too, I would say just box out. We box out as a team, but once (Jaquan Scott) go out for blocked shots, that’s when them details come in. I would just say helping the helper on the box out.”
Grambling (8-10, 2-3) has matched UAPB’s three-game losing streak. The Tigers lost to both Florida schools on the road before last week’s home defeat to their in-state rival. GSU will host Mississippi Valley State, the team with the longest losing streak in the league, on Saturday before hosting UAPB on Monday.
GSU has the second-best scoring defense in the SWAC, allowing 73.2 points per game, though their 75 points allowed per game in conference play ranks seventh.
Since the start of SWAC play, UAPB has been the most accurate 3-point-shooting team in the SWAC, making 38.3% of shots from beyond the arc.
GSU has been one of the best 3-point-shooting defenses overall but ranks 11th defending the 3 in SWAC play, allowing 37.7% to its opponents.
The last time UAPB played at Grambling in 2023, the Golden Lions made 14 three-pointers in a win. UAPB’s top 3-point shooters, Alex Mirhosseini and Trevon Payton, could look to repeat that performance.