HAMMOND, La. _ The Southeastern Louisiana Lions were nearly perfect in overtime Wednesday night and grabbed a 75-71 victory over the University of Central Arkansas Bears at the University Center.
The Lions (8-10, 2-4) made 5 of 7 in overtime, to go with 3 of 4 field-goal shooting and 1 of 1 from three-point range. For the game, Southeastern made 21 of 33 from the line (63.6 percent) to break a two-game losing streak.
The Bears (7-11, 2-4), who enjoyed a 16-point lead in the first half, lost an overtime game for the first time in three tries this season. Sophomore guard LaQuentin Miles led the Bears with 26 points, hitting 12 of 18 from the field, and pulling down a team-high 9 rebounds.
The Lions shot a blistering 70.6 percent from the field in the second half (12 of 17) and finished the game at 51 percent.
“We just let them get the momentum in the second half,’ said UCA head coach Corliss Williamson. “You can’t do that on the road. We have come from behind in games on the road this season, but we really haven’t played with a lead in the second half on the road. That’s something we have to figure out how to do and improve on.’
The Bears came out firing early, hitting 7 of their first 9 shots from the field and taking a 16-6 lead after eight minutes. Miles had 12 first-half points, including two slam dunks in the first two minutes. The Bears, who were a surprising 6 of 6 from the free-throw line in the first half, led by as much as 16 points at the 3:12 mark but the Lions got a three-pointer in the final minute to cut the deficit to 30-23 at halftime.
UCA shot 52.2 percent in the half compared to 35.7 for Southeastern.
“We came out ready to play and I thought we had them where we wanted them,’ said Williamson. “But then we let them back in it late in the half. Our shot selection wasn’t very good and we let that affect us on the defensive end as well. But I still felt pretty good about it at halftime. But then we come out and let them score the first basket and we try not to let that happen.’
Junior center Anthony Borden scored the first six points of the second half for the Bears but the Lions used a more aggressive offensive approach to cut the gap to just three at 36-33 with 16 minutes remaining. A pair of baskets by Miles pushed UCA’s lead back to six points at 42-36 but the Lions would not go away.
UCA made 7 of its first 8 field goals in the second half but the Lions nearly matched them at 7 of 10. Southeastern finished the second half shooting 70.6 percent from the field.
The Lions got to within two points at 44-42 but the Bears got back-to-back three-pointers from Ryan Williams and Chris Henson for a 51-45 lead with 8:30 left to play. An alley-oop dunk by Borden from Miles drew a foul and gave the Bears a 55-48 lead with 6:29 remaining. The Lions got a big three-pointer from Daron Populist that tied the game for the first time at 55-55 with 4:55 left.
Chris Henson answered inside for the Bears but Jeremy Campbell made 2 of 2 at the line to make it 57-57 with 3:49 to play. He then added 1 of 2 on the next possession to give the Lions their first lead of the game since the opening minute of the game. Miles drove the lane for a layup and a foul with 2:42 remaining. His free throw gave the Bears a 61-58 lead.
After the teams traded turnovers, Miles hit a running jumper down the right side of the lane for a 63-59 lead with 1:20 on the clock. Miles missed twice at the line for UCA and Campbell made a jumper from the top to cut it to 63-61 with 20 seconds left. UCA turned the ball over on the inbounds play and Elgin Bailey tipped in Populists’ miss with one second to tie it at 63-63 and send it to overtime.
The Lions grabbed a 68-63 in the first 1:30 of the extra period but the Bears closed it to 68-67 on a free throw by Miles with 1:33 remaining. SLU’s Antonnio Benton nailed the Lions’ fourth three-pointer of the game for a 72-69 lead with 52 seconds left.
Rutledge made a jumper for UCA before Populist made two at the line for a 74-71 advantage.Rutledge made a jumper for UCA that made it 72-71 with 35 seconds left. Populist made both free throws for a 74-71 lead with just 22 seconds left and UCA missed inside and fouled Benton on the rebound. He made 1 of 2 to set the final.
Rutledge was the only UCA player in double figures while the Lions had four. Campbell led the way with 19 points, while Roosevelt Johnson added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Bailey scored 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting and Populist added 10 points.DeShawn Patterson had 10 assists for the Lions.
UCA continues its road swing Sunday at McNeese State. Tipoff is 3 p.m. at the Lake Charles (La.) Civic Center.
