CONWAY, Ark. _ Round 1 of the "Rock N Roar Rivalry" took an extra period to decide a winner on Tuesday night at the Farris Center.

    The Little Rock Trojans outscored the University of Central Arkansas Bears 7-5 in overtime to grab an 89-87 victory in front of a raucous crowd of 2,643. The rematch comes on Dec. 10 at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock. 

    With the game tied at 86-86 with 1:34 to play in overtime, UCA senior Derreck Brooks hit 1 of 2 at the free-throw line to give the Bears the lead. Maurius Hill attempted a shot for the Trojans but it was blocked by Brooks and rebounded by Mathieu Kamba. UCA worked for a three-pointer by Jeff Lowery but he missed as well. Marcus Johnson then connected on a jumper for Little Rock with 13 seconds left and UCA missed again on its end.

    UCA fouled Johnson and he made 1 of 2 to make it a two-point game. UCA's Jordan Howard, the top three-point shooter in the Southland Conference last season, misfired on a three in traffic as time expired. Johnson scored six of Little Rock's final seven points and finished with a team-high 18 points to lead five players in double figures for the Trojans.

    The Bears dug themselves an early hole, falling behind 11-1 in the opening 3:30 before closing the gap to just a point at 25-24 midway through the half. Little Rock's Andre Jones nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Trojans a 50-44 halftime lead in a half where both teams shot 50 percent from the field and combined to make 23 free throws.

    "I told the guys in there (locker room) that it's important that you don't take the last few minutes of the game and think that's what cost you,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. "I look at the 11-1 start to the game. Little Rock came out and they were ready to go and we were a little, I don't know if we were flat... I thought we were a little more nervous than anything. You get down 11-1, man, you're pushing a rock up a hill. 

    "But I was proud of the way we fought back. I thought we showed a lot of character and a lot of heart. That's probably what makes it even tougher now in that locker room because we haven't had tons of success. Now all of a sudden you get that close against a quality team and you come up a little bit short.'
    
    With 2:45 left in regulation, the Bears found themselves down 77-71 after a Jalen Jackson jumper for Little Rock. But sophomore center Tanner Schmit scored with consecutive jumpers and Howard made a three-pointer to get the Bears within 81-78 with one minute to play. Johnson made 1 of 2 at the line for a four-point margin but Schmit scored again to close it to 82-80 with 43 seconds to play.

    Hill misfired for the Trojans and Brooks drove the lane and hit a twisting jumper to tie it at the buzzer. Schmit finished with 22 points, 12 more than his previous career high, and hit 10 of 14 shots and 2 of 2 from the line. 
    
    "He's been shooting the ball well in practice,' said Pennell. "We've been waiting on him to do this because he's a very good offensive player. My issue with Tanner has been I didn't think he rebounded the ball quite as well, but he's started doing that. He really crashed the glass tonight. This is why we recruited him, the fact that he can shoot the basketball. Last year he didn't get a lot of opportunities with (senior) Jake (Zuilhof). And this year is almost like his freshman year. 

    "But I'm glad to see he had a breakout night. Hopefully that a sign of good things to come for us in the pivot.'

    The Bears survived another slow start to the second half, an 8-2 run by the Trojans, and eventually tied the game at 60-60 on consecutive three-pointers by Brooks that got the crowd back into the game. Brooks finished with 17 points, hitting 3 of 7 from three-point range, while adding 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocked shots. The Bears took their biggest lead of the game at 67-62 on Howard's three-pointer at the 11-minute mark.  

    "We're starting to learn that you have to play with great effort every possession,' said Pennell. "I had to remind them of that at one of our timeouts. We talked before the game about learning to win. And that sounds like a cliche, but there's a lot of merit to diving on the loose ball and being in the right position and being disciplined to box out every time. All those things. Good teams don't beat themselves and I thought tonight we got closer than we have, but we're still just a little bit short.

    "We're better, but the problem is, there's not a lot to show for it. And I was a little concerned about that with our schedule this fall. It's a tough schedule. I think it's making us better but my hope is that my team doesn't lose heart. That will be up to me and my staff to make sure. A game like this can go one of two ways. It can either make you mad and you fight, or you can get discouraged and say 'man, I gave everything I had.' I feel like we're real close. I really do. I like this team. 

    "I'm proud of their effort. I told them that I'm really, really proud of their effort. It was a good game. I just feel bad for our guys that we couldn't pull this out.'

    Howard finished with 19 points, hitting 3 of 9 from beyond the arc, making it 46 straight games with at least one three-point basket. Lowery added 11 points and 8 assists off the bench, giving him 15 in the past two games. Kamba chipped in 8 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Howard had a game-high 4 steals as UCA forced 17 Little Rock turnovers.

    UCA travels to Cape Girardeau, Mo., on Thursday to take on the Southeast Missouri Redhawks. Then it is on to Indianapolis, Ind., to face Butler on Saturday afternoon. The next home game for the Bears is Dec. 16 versus another instate rival Arkansas State.