EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. –  A 50-point second half wasn't enough to overcome a nine-point halftime deficit as SIUE men's basketball fell on the road at Little Rock 88-80 Thursday night.
The Cougars have lost consecutive games for the first time all season and dropped to 8-8 overall and 1-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Little Rock also is 8-8. The Trojans are 2-1 in the OVC.
"Offense wasn't the issue tonight," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "We gave up 26 fast break points. That's the game."
After an opening three-pointer from Shamar Wright, Little Rock scored 13 of the next 15 points to lead 13-5 five minutes into the first half. The Trojans stretched the lead to 11 just before halftime, before a pair of Ray'Sean Taylor free throws made it 39-30 Little Rock at the break.
Little Rock scored the first six points of the second half to push the lead to 46-30 and force SIUE into a timeout with 16:44 to play in the game.
A pair of KK Robinson free throws at 12:25 gave the Trojans their largest lead at 59-40. SIUE couldn't get the lead back to single digits until a final surge with under a minute to play.
Ray'Sean Taylor completed a four-point play with a corner three and a free throw to trim the lead to 10 (87-77) with 13 seconds left. Jamir Chaplin hit a free throw before Damarco Minor knocked down one last three-pointer with three seconds to play for the final margin.
Taylor led the Cougars and tied for game-high honors with 19 points Shamar Wright scored 17 points and Desmond Polk scored a career-high 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting in just 18 minutes off the bench. Polk connected on all three of his three-point attempts.
"Des had a really good few days (of practice)," Barone said. "He missed some time with injury and he's getting back to being himself."
After shooting 39 percent in the first half, SIUE was 18-36 (50 percent) in the second half. The Cougars were 7-17 (41 percent) from three-point range in the second half.
"We did some things from an offensive perspective that gave us an opportunity, but it makes a difference when you're not guarding well," Barone said.
Little Rock shot 68 percent from the field in the second half and 58 percent for the game. Aside from 26 fast break points, the Trojans also scored 48 points in the paint.
De'Antoni Gordon scored 19 points and KK Robinson scored 18 and added 10 rebounds.
SIUE now has a week between games. The Cougars will welcome Southern Indiana to First Community Arena Thu., Jan. 11.
"We're 1-2 in the league," Barone said. "We're fine, but we have to do a good job of taking this opportunity over the next week to get after it.
"We have a bunch of guys that are connected and care about each other," Barone continued. "We just have to start executing as one unit on the court."
