Arkansas State surges past Saint Louis in NIT First Round

Red Wolves advance with dominant win

From A-State Media

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JONESBORO – A gameopening 17-2 surge set the tone for the Arkansas State men's basketball team on Tuesday night in a wire-towire 103-78 victory over Saint Louis in the first round of the NIT inside First National Bank Arena.

The Red Wolves (25-10) knocked down 16 3-pointers and shot a blistering 54.1 percent from the field against the Billikens (19-15) to become the first Sun Belt team since 2017 to win an NIT game. AState is also just the second SBC team ever to eclipse 100 points in an NIT contest.

Five players scored in double figures for the Scarlet and Black, led by 26 points and 10 boards from Izaiyah Nelson, who also swiped a career-high four steals and converted a career- best 12 field goals. Taryn Todd added 21 points on 8-of-14, including four 3-pointers with a season-high seven assists.

Derrian Ford scored 15 off the bench, while Kobe Julien and Terrance Ford Jr. scored 11 each. Ford Jr. also doled out seven assists, while Julien's performance put him over 1,500 points for his career.

A-State assisted on 24 of its 40 made baskets while outscoring SLU 46-38 in the paint in addition to holding a 38-34 edge on the glass.

Robbie Avila led the Billikens with 22 points, while Amari McCottry had 20 points and 10 rebounds. Isaiah Swope added 16, while A-State held leading scorer Gibson Jimmerson to just eight points and 1-of-9 from deep.

The Red Wolves came out hot

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from the jump, taking a 17-2 lead within the game's first six minutes. A slam by Dyondre Dominguez (8 points) put the score at 29-13 midway through the half before the Billikens went on a 9-0 run to pull within seven. ATodd trey gave A-State its largest lead of the half, up 46-28 with 3:33 remaining.

Four players scored in double figures and the Red Wolves knocked down 10 treys to take a 50-37 lead into intermission.

Saint Louis trimmed the deficit down to nine within the first four minutes of the second half, but A-State exploded for an 11-0 run sparked by a Todd trey to make it 70-50. The Red Wolves' largest lead of the night came on a dunk by Nelson at the 7:17 mark, putting the commanding lead at 9060. A-State continued to control down the stretch en route to its first NIT victory since 1991.

NEXT UP

Arkansas State's season continues in the second round of the NIT, where it will face the winner of Wednesday night's contest between Furman and second-seeded North Texas in Denton.

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