CONWAY, Ark. – Junior forward Moses Greenwood recorded a double-double as Southeastern won its second straight game to open Southland Conference play, 73-69, at Central Arkansas Sunday afternoon.

    Greenwood had a season-high 12 rebounds to go with 12 points for Southeastern (8-7, 2-0 Southland). Senior guard Eddy Polanco led the Lions with 14 points. Senior forward Jordan Capps contributed 13 points and seven rebounds while junior guard Marlain Veal had 10 points and five assists. Senior forward James Currington also had seven rebounds as Southeastern held a 45-43 advantage while shooting 41.3 percent from the field.

    Jordan Howard, who came in averaging 24.4 points per game, was held to 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting for Central Arkansas (7-8, 1-1 Southland). Thatch Unruh contributed 12 points and DeAndre Jones 11. Mathieu Kamba had a team-high 10 rebounds. The Bears shot 33.9 percent from the field.

    Polanco knocked down a 3-pointer with 9:30 left to give Southeastern the lead for good at 52-50 with 9:30 remaining. Polanco followed with a layup and senior guard Jabbar Singleton scored off a steal to make it 56-50 with 8:43 left. A 3-pointer by senior guard Keith Charleston gave the Lions their biggest lead at 62-54 at the 7:33 mark.

    Tanner Schmit drove in to cut the deficit to 64-60 with 5:32 remaining. But senior guard Joshua Filmore drained a 3 and Greenwood added a jumper from the right side to build the lead back to 69-62 with 3:17 left. Unruh hit a free throw to make it 71-67 with 31 seconds left but Darraja Parnell missed a pair with 21 seconds remaining. Polanco hit the first of two free throws with 20 seconds left for a 72-67 lead.

    Kamba scored on a layup with six seconds left. But Veal sealed the win with a free throw with two seconds remaining.

    Central Arkansas opened the second half on a 5-0 run to tie the game at 36-36 on a Lee putback with 18:04 remaining. Southeastern responded with a Capps 3 and jumpers by Veal and Filmore to regain the lead at 43-38 at the 15:27 mark. Howard knocked down a 3 from the left wing to tie it again at 45 with 12:31 left.

    Capps scored the first six points for the Lions, including a layup off a pass from Currington to make it 6-4 at the 17:58 mark. But eight Southeastern turnovers in the first eight minutes allowed Central Arkansas to take a 14-8 lead on a Schmit putback with 14:37 left.

    Filmore drove the lane to put the Lions up 18-17 with nine minutes remaining. Currington then scored off a Polanco feed inside to make it 23-20 at the 7:29 mark. After UCA tied it at 24 on two Jones free throws with 6:32 left, Southeastern went on a 6-0 run to take its biggest lead of the half at 30-24 as Veal hit two free throws with 4:29 remaining.

    The Bears got to within 33-31 on two more Jones free throws with 2:41 left. But Singleton drained a 3 from the right wing to give Southeastern a 36-31 lead at the half.  
  
NOTES: Southeastern moved to 2-0 in conference play for the second straight season. The last time the Lions accomplished that feat was in 2004-05 and '05-06.
 
Southeastern snapped a five-game losing streak at Central Arkansas. The Lions' last previous win in Conway came 70-69 on Jan. 31, 2013.
 
Veal scored his 900^th career point with a free throw with 2:09 left.
   
UP NEXT:
   Southeastern takes a break before traveling to Abilene Christian Saturday for a 4 p.m. tip-off.