MONROE, La. -- Markquis Nowell had a season-high 33 points, including three 3-pointers in the final 35 seconds, as Arkansas-Little Rock edged Louisiana-Monroe 73-72 in a Sun Belt Conference opener on Thursday night.

UALR (7-5) trailed 69-63 with 2:03 remaining. There was no more scoring until Nowell hit a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left. After Michael Ertel made two free throws for ULM, Nowell drained another 3-pointer with 22 seconds left and the Trojans trailed 71-69. After both teams made 1 of 2 from the line, UALR gained possession on a held ball. With 11 seconds left, the ball was inbounded to Nowell and he swished a 30-footer with 3 seconds left. Ertel's halfcourt attempt was off the mark at the buzzer.

Nowell's nine points in the final 35 seconds were more than any of his teammates scored.

JD Williams had 24 points and seven rebounds for the Warhawks (4-5, 0-1). Ertel added 23 points. Jalen Hodge had 10 points.

Arkansas-Little Rock plays at Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday. Louisiana-Monroe plays at home against Arkansas State on Saturday.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com