CONWAY, Ark _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears did nearly everything right Saturday afternoon except shoot free throws in the second half, and it cost them a possible victory.
Northwestern State overcame a late four-point deficit to force overtime, then won the game 80-79 in front of a crowd of 1,127 at the Farris Center.
The Bears (4-12, 0-3) made 12 of 14 from the line in the first half but then went 13 of 22 (59 percent) in the second half. UCA had a 71-69 lead and drew the fifth foul, an intentional one, on Northwestern State’s scoring leader Will Pratt with 33.7 seconds left in regulation. Senior guard Imad Qahwash missed both free throws but UCA got the ball back because of the intentional foul.
UCA turned the ball back over to NSU but UCA guard Mike Pouncy stole the Demons’ inbounds pass and senior center Carlos Dos Santos was fouled. He made both free throws to make it 73-69 with 18.5 second remaining.
Shamir Davis scored for the Demons (10-8, 2-1) and UCA turned it over again and fouled NSU guard Devon Baker. The senior from the Bronx, New York, tied the game with two free throws with 3.4 seconds left. Mark Rutledge’s shot from across half court at the buzzer fell short, sending the game to overtime.
“I’m at a loss for words,’ said UCA head coach Corliss Williamson. “You can’t win a game like that, especially down the stretch when you have a lead and the other team is fouling you. You have to be able to convert those free throws. We were able to get to the basket and draw fouls, but when you’re not converting your free throws it’s pretty much like a turnover.
“We just haven’t found a way to put a team away when we have a lead like that. I can’t take anything away from Northwestern State, because they did an outstanding job of keeping their poise in that game and found a way to win.’
The Demons scored first in the extra period on Baker’s baseline jumper and never trailed again. The Bears missed their first three shots in overtime but still managed to get within 78-76 on Rutledge’s free throw with 1:24 to play. Louis Ellis made two free throws for NSU with 5 seconds remaining for an 80-76 lead. Pouncy answered for UCA with a three-pointer that just beat the buzzer to set the final.
“Our guys came out with the attitude that they wanted to win a basketball game at home,’ said Williamson. “I thought we fought hard tonight and gave ourselves a chance to win. And again, like we’ve struggled with before, we just have not found a way to win close games at the end.’
Qahwash, a senior from Kitchener, Ontario, led the Bears with 19 points, while senior forward Tadre Sheppard added 13 and Rutledge had 11. Pratt, a 6-foot-5 senior from Harlem, New York, led all scorers with 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting before fouling out. For the game, UCA made 26 of 38 (68.4 percent) from the line and out-rebounded NSU 40-36.
The Bears, down 42-37 at halftime, outscored the Demons 25-10 in the first 13 minutes of the second half to take their biggest lead of the game at 62-52 on Rutledge’s layup. UCA shot 52.6 percent from the field in the second half and limited NSU to 40 percent.
“We felt pretty good at that point,’ said Williamson. “We had to try to continue to calm our guys down. It’s been awhile since we’ve had a run like that and played like that, and you tend to get jacked up emotionally and kind of let some other things slip. We were trying to keep out guys focused and for the most part did.
“We just have to find a way to win games.’
UCA goes on the road for two games next week, at Nicholls on Wednesday and Lamar on Saturday.
