Brandon Peterson had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Arkansas State rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to defeat Louisiana-Lafayette 79-74 Saturday night.
The Red Wolves (9-12, 3-4 Sun Belt), who snapped a three-game losing streak, trailed 46-34 after Louisiana-Lafayette scored the first basket of the second half. An 8-0 run closed the gap to 52-50 with 13:52 remaining, and Arkansas State went ahead 58-56 on a 3-pointer by Trey Finn at the 10:48 mark.
Another 3 by Finn with 5:39 left broke a 65-all tie and gave the Red Wolves the lead for good.
J.J. Thomas led Louisiana-Lafayette (10-11, 4-3) with 20 points. Bryant Mbamalu added 17 and Kadeem Coleby had 16.
Finn had 17 points and Malcoln Kirkland added 14 for Arkansas State, which split the season series with the Ragin Cajuns. Ed Townsel had seven assists and seven rebounds.
