CONWAY, Ark _ An 11-0 scoring run by McNeese State on Saturday afternoon and poor shooting by the home team was enough to carry the Cowboys to a 70-63 victory over the University of Central Arkansas Bears in Southland Conference play at the Farris Center.
UCA (5-15, 1-6) was within six points at the 14:25 mark of the second half but the first-place Cowboys scored 11 straight points to go up by 17. A furious rally in the final minutes got the Bears to five points three times but their poor shooting was more than they could overcome.
The Bears made just 5 of 25 (20 percent) from three-point range and shot 33.8 percent (22 of 65) overall.
“We talked to the guys after the game, and even at halftime, that tonight our shot selection to me was terrible, to say the least,’ said UCA head coach Corliss Williamson. “We shot 25 threes and only made five. And of course we didn’t make free throws tonight, missing 11. I pointed out to them that when we did win a basketball game here at home (on Wednesday), we only shot nine three-point shots, and we were 14 of 16 at the free-throw line.
“Playing hard is going to do enough to give us an opportunity to compete, but to have a chance to win games, you have to take good shots.’
The Bears, who won their first conference game of the season against Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday, were down 33-29 at halftime, despite shooting 32 percent from the field. But the Cowboys (13-7, 4-2) scored the first five points of the second half to put UCA in an early hole.
The Bears cut a 17-point deficit down to just five points at the 2:24 mark on Mark Rutledge’s steal and layup. UCA went to a five-guard lineup midway through the second half and forced 10 turnovers in the final 20 minutes. UCA had a chance to get within two points but a missed three-pointer at the 1:24 mark gave the ball back to the Cowboys.
“We were able to get some turnovers and we were able to attack and get to the basket,’ Williamson said. “Our defense was playing well at times and we started to hustle a little more. But we can’t sustain that for 40 minutes, and that’s been an issue for us. We have to figure out a way to fix that problem.’
McNeese’s C.J. Collins made two free throws for a 66-59 lead with 1:13 left. Rutledge made 1 of 2 for the Bears but Diego Kapelan hit both at the line with 1:03 left for a 67-60 lead.
Rutledge scored again inside for UCA before the Bears forced yet another turnover. The Bears could not convert as Mike Pouncy missed and McNeese grabbed the rebound. Patrick Richard made 1 of 2 at the line for the Cowboys and Rutledge answered with a single free throw at the 24.6 mark to close it to 68-63.
Stephan Martin then sealed it for the Cowboys with two free throws with 23.3 seconds left for a 70-63 margin. UCA missed two three-point attempts in the final seconds.
“I don’t really know what happened, we had a couple of guys who were just launching shots,’ said Williamson. “It was like it was pick-up ball or something. We got away from what we were capable of doing to win the basketball game. We kind of forgot what we had to do to win the game, what it took against Southeastern Louisiana.’
Rutledge, a junior forward from Tulsa, led the Bears with 19 points and 9 rebounds, tying his career high in points. Senior guards Imad Qahwash and Pouncy added 17 and 12 points, respectively.
“The thing about Mark I like, and I saw it last year when I coached against him in junior college, he’s a utility man,’ said Williamson. “He does a lot of things well. He had nine rebounds, and of course he scored 19 points for us. Then you look on the other side, he had five assists and zero turnovers, along with two steals.
“He does a lot of things for us, and when he’s playing like that, I really like that type of aggressiveness from him. Hopefully we can have some others play like that.’
The Bears hit the road for two games next week, playing at Northwestern State on Wednesday and at UT Arlington on Saturday.
