Led by three players scoring in double figures, including junior guard Desi Sills with a game-high 18 points, the Arkansas State men’s basketball team defeated Kansas City by a 66-55 score Sunday afternoon at First National Bank Arena.
The Red Wolves knocked down 23-of-43 shots from the field for a season-high .535 field goal percentage while improving their record to 4-2.
A-State also posted a season-best .667 percentage from beyond the arc, hitting six of its nine three-point attempts, and won the battle of the boards 28-25 to remain undefeated when outrebounding its opponent.
A-State improved to 3-1 at home and ran its all-time series record to 7-0 against Kansas City, which saw its season mark move to 3-4. Sills added five assists and a career-tying four steals to go along with his 18 points, while freshman forward Norchad Omier accounted for 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Making his first start of the season, junior forward Markise Davis scored a season-high 10 points. Senior guard Marquis Eaton continued to climb the A-State record books as well, scoring seven points to move past Steve Brooks (1969-74) for the ninth most career points in school history with 1,376 to his credit.
Arkansas State jumped out to an early 10-4 advantage before Kansas City went on an 8-0 run to claim its first lead at 12-10 nearly midway through the first half.
The next six-plus minutes featured three ties and two more lead changes as neither team held more than a four-point advantage. Trailing 26-25 with 4:52 left in the first half, the Red Wolves put together an 8-0 run to reclaim the lead for good.
A-State, which trailed for just 56 second during the entire game, went on to take a 39-32 advantage into the break. A-State began the second half by scoring 11 of the first 13 points to build a 50-34 lead with just over 15 minutes remaining.
The home team maintained a double-figure advantage the rest of the way, not allowing the Roos to get closer than the final 11-point margin.
Not only did A-State post more rebounds, block, steals and assists, it also held Kansas City to a .417 shooting percentage and limited its leading scorer entering the game, guard Evan Gilyard II, to just two points.
Gilyard, who was averaging 14.2 points, finished his day 0-of-4 from the field. The Roos had only one player, forward Josiah Allick, finish in double-figures with 12 points.
He also led the squad on the boards with a game-high nine rebounds.
Arkansas State remains at home for its next game, hosting Central Arkansas on Saturday, Dec. 4, at 4:00 p.m.
