Trojans learning how to close out

Markquis Nowell (left) and the UALR Trojans are 3-2 this season in games decided by five points or less after going 2-5 in such games last season. Nowell leads the Sun Belt in scoring at 19.8 points per game. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Jeff Gammons)If the first two games of Sun Belt Conference are any indication, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock men's basketball is slowly figuring out how to do what it so often couldn't last season -- close out tight games.

Take the last outing at Louisiana-Lafayette on Dec. 21, when the Trojans trailed by one heading into the final minute before sophomore point guard Markquis Nowell drained a go-ahead three-pointer, junior forward Ruot Monyyong…