NACOGDOCHES, Texas _  The University of Central Arkansas Bears came within a missed three-pointer of possibly ending a pair of streaks on Wednesday night at Stephen F. Austin's Johnson Coliseum.

    UCA misfired on a potential game-tying three-pointer in the final 10 seconds and the Lumberjacks held on for a 78-76 victory, winning their 43rd consecutive home game in Southland Conference play. The loss, with the closest margin in the history of the series, kept UCA from notching its first-ever win over SFA in 15 meetings.

    Rebounding, specifically on the offensive end, was the big difference as the Lumberjacks (10-10, 5-3) outrebounded the Bears 43-23 overall, pulling down a whopping 23 offensive rebounds. The Bears (4-17, 3-5) finished with just two offensive boards as SFA outscored UCA 22-0 in second-chance points.

    Despite that wide rebound discrepancy, the Bears, who shot 55.8 percent from the field and 58.8 percent (10 of 17) from three-point range, still had a shot to tie the game with 10.6 seconds. Sophomore Thatch Unruh took a pass on the left wing, pumped faked a defender off his feet, then rimmed out his three-point attempt that would have tied it at 76. UCA fouled and SFA's Ty Charles made both free throws for a 78-73 lead. UCA junior Jordan Howard then tossed in his sixth three-pointer of the night at the buzzer to set the final.
    
    "We got a great look there at the end,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. "They ran away from Thatch and he was open. There is nobody that feels worse than him. He came over with his head hung and I told him, you don't get to do that on this team. You don't get to blame yourself. Only one person gets blamed for losses and that's me. They don't get to do that. 

    "Him missing that shot at the end was magnified a little bit but it's no different than if he missed it in the first half. It was still an attempt where he was open. I wish it had gone in but it didn't.'

    The Bears, down by 13 points with 6:50 left to play, got a spark off the bench from true freshman Darraja Parnell, who scored all of his career-high 13 points in the second half.  He was a big part of a 9-1 run that got the Bears back within striking distance heading into the final four minutes. Unruh nailed a three-pointer that cut the deficit to 72-67 with 3:31 left and, after UCA's defense forced a shot-clock violation on SFA, Parnell's two free throws made it 72-69 at the 2:33 mark.

    An inside basket by junior Mathieu Kamba made it a two-point game at 75-73 with 1:24 on the clock to set up the final chaotic seconds.

    "Darraja has been practicing better and he just deserved to get on the court tonight,' said Pennell. "I thought he brought an element to us that we've kind of been missing. I thought he really attacked the basket well and played awfully well.
    
    "And Jordan shot the ball very well. I thought he took great shots. The thing about Jordan is, he took  11 shots  and scored 25 points. Who does that, just the efficiency of it. I like how he's trusting his teammates and he's not having to shoot 20 or 25 times to get those points. And I thought Kamba was solid and we probably didn't get him the ball quite as much. '

    Kamba finished with 16 points and 7 rebounds, while Parnell was 8 of 9 at the free-throw line for his 13 points. Howard was 6 of 8 from beyond the arc and 8 of 11 overall, finishing with 25 points. UCA had double-figure three-pointers for the third time this season as Howard made at least one three-pointer for the 61st consecutive game.

    The Bears shot 60.9 percent from the field in the first half, including 6 of 10 from three-point range, but still trailed the Lumberjacks 42-39 at the break. Howard had 13 points _ 4 of 5 from three-point range _ and Kamba had 10. Isaiah Traylor was 4 of 8 from three-point range and had 16 first-half points for the Lumberjacks.

    UCA led by as much as eight points at 19-11 after a three from Howard with 13:30 to play but the 'Jacks fought back with perimeter shooting and rebounding. A 13-3 run late in the half that included four consecutive three-pointers gave SFA a 39-31 lead with 4:00 to play. UCA got a pair of inside baskets from Derreck Brooks and dunks by Kamba and Ethan Lee to close the gap to just three points at the half.

    TJ Holyfield topped the Lumberjacks with 19 points, while Traylor added 18, but just two points in the second half. UCA held SFA to just 42.4 percent shooting from the field and 26.7 percent (8 of 30) from three-point range.

    UCA, which has played only five home games in its first 21 games this season, returns home Saturday to begin a five-game homestand. The Bears take on Incarnate Word at 4 p.m. at the Farris Center, following the Sugar Bears' game with UIW.