Jonesboro, AR – (Contributed) – Crislyn Rose and Zyion Shannon totaled 14 points each to lead Arkansas State (10-3, 2-0 SBC) to a 74-61 over South Alabama (7-5, 0-2 SBC) Saturday afternoon in First National Bank Arena.
The Red Wolves won by double digits in all five games during the home stand, with today’s win extending their active win streak to eight.
Despite draining 3-of-27 (11 percent) from three, A-State responded by out-rebounding the Jaguars 49-35 and forced 29 turnovers. A-State went 27-of-68 (40 percent) to South’s 20-of-53 (38 percent) and scored 48 of their points in the paint with USA netting 30.
Yves Cox came off the bench to lead the team with seven rebounds and added eight points. Bella Weary joined Rose and Shannon in double figures with 12 points.
Trading buckets to open the game, South Alabama held a one-score lead with less than a minute left in the quarter until a fast break layup from Shannon tied it up, followed by two backcourt steals in a row that led to easy layups for Shannon under the bucket, flipping the two-point deficit into a four-point lead at the quarter break.
Defense held both teams in check, with A-State only managing 13 points and holding the Jags to 10. Yves Cox was the only player between both teams to make more than one field goal, hitting back-to-back layups halfway through the period. A pull-up jump shot from Rose with 40 seconds was the final score to give the Red Wolves the 29-22 lead at halftime.
Spurred by a Cox layup, the Red Wolves engaged in a 9-0 run that lasted nearly four minutes to extend the lead, with the lead reaching as far as 20 points ahead before the 55-39 lead heading into the final 10 minutes. Shannon led the quarter with six points, making all four free throw opportunities.
Arkansas State maintained a 17-point lead off of six points from Rose and a pair of second-chance layups from Mia in a tit-for-tat fourth quarter. South Alabama closed in with a handful of field goals the final two minutes but the Red Wolves held steady for the 13-point win.
UP NEXT
Arkansas State plays their penultimate non-conference game against in-state foe Arkansas on Sunday, Dec. 28, at 2 p.m. in Fayetteville. The game will be streamed on SECN+, and live stats can be found at astateredwolves.com/stats.
