Williams leads Appy St past Little Rock in Sun Belt opener

Mar 8, 2018, 01:24 am

NEW ORLEANS -- Reserve O'Showen Williams scored a career-high 22 points, Justin Forrest added 19 and fifth-seeded Appalachian State cruised to a 93-64 win over Little Rock in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Wednesday.

Griffin Kinney and Ronshad Shabazz added 12 points apiece and Isaac Johnson had 11 with 11 rebounds for the Mountaineers (15-17), who face fourth-seated Texas-Arlington on Friday.

The Mountaineers opened the game with a 12-2 burst and closed the first half with a 9-0 run to lead 46-25. They shot 54 percent, going 7 of 12 from distance, and Williams had 12 points. The Trojans got within 17 with 12 minutes to play but Appalachian State followed with a 10-0 run.

Williams made all three of his 3-pointers and was 6 of 8 from the field. Forrest as also 6 of 8 but made 4 of 5 from distance. Appalachian State shot 56 percent, including 12 of 22 behind the arc.

Little Rock (7-25), which lost the two regular-season meetings by a total of seven points and upset league champion Louisiana in its last game, got 13 points from Jaizec Lottie.