LAKE CHARLES, La. _ The McNeese State Cowboys won the free throw contest Sunday afternoon and with it, took an 87-76 victory over the University of Central Arkansas Bears at the Lake Charles Civic Center.
The first-place Cowboys (9-10, 5-2) made 28 of 39 at the line, compared to 6 of 8 for the Bears (7-12, 2-5). UCA stayed around until the end by making 10 three-pointers, tying a season high. Junior Jarvis Garner of Conway was 4 of 6 from beyond the arc for a career-high 22 points. Senior guard Dewan Clayborn of Little Rock was 4 of 9 and added 14 points off the bench.
The Bears held McNeese senior forward Patrick Richard, the Southland Conference’s leading scorer, to four points and no field goals in the first half. He finished with 19 points, with nine of those coming at the free-throw line.
“We just made some mistakes at crucial times and didn’t take care of business like we needed to,’ said UCA head coach Corliss Williamson. “But you have to give McNeese credit, they defended their home court and came out of it with a win.’
The Cowboys were in the bonus just four minutes into the game and had shot 20 free throws by halftime. UCA was 2 for 2 at the break.
“You look at the free throws, we had eight and they had 40. that’s just a little lopsided,’ said Williamson. “I can’t say anything else about that. But I think it shows their aggressiveness, as far as them attacking the basket. And for us, not being able to get in there and be aggressive with the basketball.’
Despite the free throw discrepany, the Bears led by as much as seven points in the first half as Clayborn provided an offensive spark off the bench with a pair of three-pointers. UCA led 31-26 with five minutes but let the lead slip away down the stretch. The Cowboys outscored the Bears 15-2 in the final five minutes, including consecutive three-pointers from Jeremie Mitchell and a tip-in at the buzzer by Daniel Richard, good for a 40-33 lead at the break.
McNeese then opened the second half with a 10-3 run to jump ahead by 14 points with 14:50 remaining on Richard’s first field goal of the game. Garner got the Bears back within eight points with back-to-back three-pointers and a tip-in, but Richard answered with a three-pointer for the Cowboys, for a 56-49 lead with 11:20 left.
Garner, who had 18 of his points in the second half, struck again with another three to close the deficit to just six at 58-52 with 10:20 left to play.
Down 71-58 after a pair of free throws by Rudy Turner, the Bears scored seven consecutive points, a three-pointer by Clayborn, a steal and layup by LaQuentin Miles and a follow dunk by Garner that closed the gap to 71-65 with 5:10 reamining. But Richard scored four straight points and Mitchell added a layup to return the lead to double digits, 77-65, at the 3:34 mark.
Clayborn answered with his third three-point basket but the Cowboys beat the Bears deep for a dunk by Turner that gave them an 80-68 lead. Garner nailed another three-pointer to give him his career high with 1:41 left. After a free throw by Mitchell, senior Chris Henson hit another three for UCA to close it to 81-74. But the Bears turned the ball over and then fouled Mitchell again with 1:09 remaining.
Mitchell made 1 of 2 but the Cowboys stole the ball and got a conventional three-point play from Dontae Cannon with 47.7 seconds left to seal it.
“I was glad to see Jarvis come back and score like that, and to have 11 rebounds,’ said Williamson. “And Dewan came off the bench and gave us a spark with his shooting. But like I’ve said, we have to find a way to get everyone on the same page and playing at a high level at all times. That way we can be the team we’re capable of being.’
Miles, the No. 2 scorer in the conference, had 16 points and sophomore Jordan Harks added 10. Mitchell topped the Cowboys with 20 points, while Richard had 19, Turner 13 and Cannon 12. The Cowboys were 16 of 20 (80 percent) from the line in the second half. They also shot 56 percent overall in the second half.
UCA was 7 of 12 on three-pointers in the second half (58.3 percent).
The Bears return home for two games, starting with a rematch against Northwestern State at 7 p.m. Wednesday. UCA beat Northwestern State in the first meeting in Natchitoches, La. UCA then hosts UT Arlington on Saturday. UTA leads the SLC West Division with a perfect 7-0 record.
