Saturday Night in the Sun Belt – Scores and Stories

Middle Tennessee won its seventh straight game Saturday, beating Western Kentucky 72-53 at the Monte Hale Arena in the Murphy Center on the MTSU campus.

The Blue Raiders (18-4, 10-1 Sun Belt) never trailed in the game, leading by seven points at halftime.  WKU (11-11, 5-6) got no closer than six in the second half.

Marcos Knight led the Raiders with 15 points.  A season high crowd of over 10,000 fans were there to witness it.

Elsewhere in the Belt, balanced scoring led UALR to a 62-57 win over North Texas at the Super Pit in Denton.  The win gave the Trojans (14-9, 8-4) their third straight win and gave them a season sweep over the Mean Green (8-14, 3-8.)

Troy won its second straight overtime game, winning in Monroe against the ULM Warhawks, 71-64.  Troy (9-12, 4-6) won both games this year against the Warhawks (3-13, 2-8).  Three players scored in double figures for Troy, including Emil Jones, who had seven of his 13 points in the extra period.  The win was number 497 in Coach Don Maestri's career.

And, Arkansas State's stifling defense led the Red Wolves (12-8, 6-5) to a decisive 63-38 win over Florida Atlantic.  ASU had four in double figures, and forward Brandon Peterson scored his 1,000th career point in the win.  Greg Gantt, the Sun Belt's leading scorer, tallied 13 points and was the only player in double figures for the Owls.

South Alabama hosts FIU on Sunday.