HOT SPRINGS, Ark. � Solomon Bozeman scored 25 points and Arkansas-Little Rock advanced the Sun Belt tournament championship game with a 65-56 win over Middle Tennessee on Monday night.
The Trojans (18-16) have never won the tournament and are making their first appearance in the title game since 1996. They will face defending tournament champion North Texas on Tuesday with a berth to the NCAA tournament on the line.
The Blue Raiders (16-16) shot just 35.9 percent (14 of 39) and were led by J.T. Sulton, who had 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Arkansas-Little Rock led 43-42 in the second half before going a 8-1 run to go up 51-43. Bozeman, the Sun Belt player of the year, scored the final four points of the run on free throws. He finished 19 of 22 at the line.
The Trojans led by as many as nine points in the first half, taking a 17-8 lead after Eric Kibi scored inside.
Middle Tennessee responded with six-straight points by Sulton that started an 7-0 run to close the Trojans' lead to 17-15. The Blue Raiders stayed close despite shooting just 30 percent (6 of 20) in the first half.
Bozeman began to take control late in the first half. He scored the Trojans' last five points of the half, all on free throws, to help push the lead up to 27-19.
Arkansas-Little Rock was outrebounded 20-15 in the half and shot just 10 of 25 from the floor, but the Trojans scored nine points off 12 Blue Raiders' turnovers.
Middle Tennessee closed within one point three times in the second half.
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