CONWAY, Ark. – Jordan Howard hit a 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left to lift Central Arkansas to a 68-66 Southland Conference win over Southeastern Louisiana Saturday evening in the Farris Center.
The loss overshadowed a 24-point effort for Lions sophomore guard
Marlain Veal. Veal had a career-high five 3-pointers and added seven rebounds and five assists for Southeastern (13-11, 6-5 Southland). Junior forward
Eddy Polanco contributed 18 points and six rebounds. Senior
Dominic Nelson also had seven rebounds for the Lions who shot 35.7 percent from the field and out-rebounded UCA 37-36.
Howard finished with 14 points to lead the Bears (6-18, 5-6 Southland). Derreck Brooks had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Mathieu Kamba added 13 points and Ethan Lee 10 for UCA which shot 49 percent overall.
After a Central Arkansas timeout, Howard took the inbounds from Brooks and drained the 3 from the top of the key. Following an official review to add 1.2 seconds on the clock, sophomore guard
Dimi Cook threw a length of the court inbounds pass but had it intercepted by Kamba as time expired.
Polanco hit a 3 to give Southeastern a 66-59 lead with 4:01 remaining. But the Bears battled back, cutting the lead to 66-65 on a Kamba layup with 2:19 left. Each team failed to score on its next three possessions with sophomore forward
Moses Greenwood blocking a Kamba layup attempt with eight seconds left. Cook was fouled on the rebound but missed the front end of the one-and-one with Brooks grabbing the rebound.
Veal hit a 3 from the left wing to put Southeastern up 57-56 with 6:50 remaining. Greenwood and Cook followed with layups, forcing the Bears to call a timeout with 5:15 left with the Lions leading 61-56.
Southeastern took a 37-33 halftime lead before Central Arkansas pulled to within 38-37 on two Brooks free throws with 18:28 remaining. But Polanco hit three free throws and Veal knocked down a 3 from the top of the arc to give Southeastern a 44-37 lead at the 17:18 mark.
That would be the Lions' last field goal over the next 6:34 as UCA went on a 14-0 run. The Bears tied the game at 44 on an Ethan Lee dunk with 15 minutes left, then regained the lead on a Kamba layup at the 14:12 mark. Brooks hit a 3 and Lee drove in for a layup to give UCA a 51-44 lead with 12:08 remaining.
Polanco scored off an inbounds pass from Cook to break the Lions' scoreless drought with 10:44 left, then drained a 3 from the right corner to make it 53-51 at the 9:31 mark.
UCA took a 10-5 lead on a Jeff Lowery layup with 13:55 left. Veal, who had 10 of Southeastern's first 12 points, brought the Lions to within 13-12 at the 13:26 mark with a 3 and a layup. The Bears went back up 20-14 on a Kamba tap-in with 9:12 remaining.
Southeastern responded with a 16-6 run to take a 30-26 lead with 3:13 left. Nelson scored on a putback and Polanco drained a 3 from the right corner to give the Lions their first lead. Veal put Southeastern up by five with a 3 from the right wing at the 2:28 mark.
UCA battled back with a three-point play by Darraja Parnell and a layup by Howard to tie the game at 33 with 1:30 left. But Veal went on for a dunk off a Polanco steal and Polanco followed with a layup with six seconds left to give Southeastern a 37-33 halftime lead.
Southeastern will be back on the road Wednesday, traveling to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
