FORT SMITH, ARK. The UTPB men’s basketball team just couldn’t catch host Arkansas-Fort Smith, falling 68-63 in a Lone Star Conference game Saturday at the Stubblefied Center.
Keyon Craddock scored 18 points to lead the Falcons with Max Warren adding 13 and Jalen King 10 in the loss.
A bright spot for the Falcons was guard DaJuan Jones moving to the top of the school’s career assist chart. He had five on the night, giving him 235 to break the previous mark of 232.
Payton Brown scored a game-high 29 points to lead the host Liones, with Jaxon Ingram adding 10 in the victory.
ARKANSAS-FORT SMITH 68, UTPB 63
UTPB (6-4 overall, 2-2 Lone Star)
Max Warren 6-7 1-1 13, Jalen King 5-10 0-0 10, DaJuan Jones 2-6 3-4 9, Keyon Craddock 7-14 0-0 18, Rodney Carson Jr. 0-1 0-0 0, Azariah Seay 2-10 4-4 9, Nathaniel Powell 0-0 2-2 2, D’Mari WIltz 1-2 0-0 2, Alavarez Powell 0-1 0-0 0, Lino Manhom 0-0 0-0 0, Bryson Morehead 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-51 10-11 63.
ARKANSAS-FORT SMITH (5-5, 1-3)
David Ekezie 2-4 0-0 4, Faraha Cadeaux de Dieu 4-4 1-1 9, Cameron Bush 2-5 4-4 8, Evan Anderson 3-7 0-0 8, Payton Brown 10-18 4-4 29, Daryl McElrath 0-0 0-0 0, Connor Slater 0-1 0-0 0, Jaxon Ingram 5-6 0-0 10, Courtney Murrell 0-2 0-0 0, Drew Miller 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-49 9-9 68.
Halftime — Ark-Fort Smith 31, UTPB 29. 3-Point goals — UTPB 7-18 (Kin 0-1, Jones 2-4, Craddock 4-9, Seay 1-4), Ark-Fort Smith 7-19 (Bush 0-1, Anderson 2-5, Brown 5-11, Murrell 0-2). Total fouls — UTPB 16, Ark-Fort Smith 15. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — UTPB (Seay), Ark-Fort Smith (Anderson). Rebounds — UTPB 26 (King 5), Ark-Fort Smith 23 (Ingram 7). Assists — UTPB 12 (Jones 5), Ark-Fort Smith 17 (Bush 4, Anderson 4, Murrell 4).
