CONWAY, Ark. _ A late flurry by the University of Central Arkansas Bears was not enough to offset a cold-shooting night Wednesday as the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks grabbed a 67-56 victory in Southland Conference play in front of a crowd of 1,679 at the Farris Center.
UCA (5-9, 0-2) was down by as much as 19 points with seven minutes left to play, but cut the margin to just five on Robert Crawford’s three-point basket with 1:32 remaining. But the Lumberjacks (9-7, 3-0) made enough of their free throws, 6 of 6 in the final 1:20, to hold on for the victory. SFA made only 15 of 28 free throws (53.6 percent) for the game, but made the ones that counted.
“We waited until the very end to try to challenge them,’ said UCA head coach Corliss Williamson, “and we can’t wait until the last five minutes. We can’t play our type of basketball only at certain times and give ourselves a chance to win a basketball game.
“We had a chance to come back at the end, but unfortunately Stephen F. Austin is very good at what they do. They were able to get their composure and make some free throws down the stretch.’
UCA came back despite shooting just 37.9 percent from the field, 23.5 percent from the three-point line (4 of 17) and 40 percent ((8 of 20) from the free-throw line. SFA also outrebounded UCA 42-32.
“We were still able to hang around,’ said Williamson. “But you look at Stephen F. Austin and their tradition, Teams are not going to shoot well because they do such a good job defending in the halfcourt. That was a concern of ours and that’s why we wanted to get the game in the open court and try to score some easy baskets.
“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that, and then we couldn’t make free throws as well. Any time you don’t make free throws, you put yourself in a bind.’
The Bears, who have lost six consecutive games after a five-game winning streak, trailed 28-20 at halftime after going 1 of 8 at the free-throw line. Crawford, a junior guard from Broken Arrow, Okla., had seven points in the first half and finished with a career-high 15, the only UCA player in double figures. Jarvis Garner made the only free throw with 11:53 left in the half for UCA’s last lead of the game, .
Sophomore Jordan Harks made a pair of free throws with 17:41 left to play in the second half to close the Bears within two at 28-26, but SFA then put together a 13-2 scoring run to pull away.
SFA, which has an 8-0 career record against UCA since the Bears joined the league, had four players in double figures. Junior forward Jonathan King led the way with 19 points and 8 rebounds, while senior center Jereal Scott added 15 points and junior forward Taylor Smith had 13.
The Bears travel to Natchitoches, La., on Saturday to take on Northwestern State. Game time is 1 p.m.
