CONWAY, Ark. _ Incarnate Word's Shawn Johnson made a free throw with 2.4 seconds left as the Cardinals snuck out of the Farris Center with an 81-80 victory over the University of Central Arkansas Bears in Southland Conference action Saturday afternoon. 

    The Bears had tied the game at 80 on Jeff Lowery's steal of an inbounds pass and ensuing layup with 14.7 seconds left. The Cardinals (10-10, 5-4) took the ball inside and missed on short jumpers in traffic twice before a late foul call on Tanner Schmit. Johnson, a junior guard who scored 16 points, made the first free throw but missed the second. UCA's Mathieu Kamba grabbed the rebound and headed up court and got off a desparation heave from half court that was on line but came up short as the Bears dropped their second consecutive SLC game by two points or less.

    "It never should have gotten to that,' said a disappointed UCA head coach Russ Pennell. "It shouldn't have even been a factor. That didn't beat us. The biggest thing was we didn't shoot the ball well the second half. We had good looks, we had some right around the goal that went in and out... And once they kind of caught up, then it started magnifying a little bit more and the basket started shrinking a little more.'

    The Bears (4-18, 3-6) shot 55 percent from the field in the first half and led 50-36, but that shooting percentage dropped to just 36.7 percent in the second half. UCA was also called for 10 second-half fouls with the Cardinals going 14 of 20 at the line in the second half and 18 of 26 for the game. UCA was 9 of 11 at the line. 

    "The thing with a team that's learning how to win,' Pennell said, "and I told the guys this at halftime. You have about a four- or five-minute window to put them away. And I thought we did. We got that 17 (-point lead) and then we let up. And when we let up, it's hard to turn it back on. And I think we learned a valuable lesson. 

    "I thought early on we could get about what we wanted, and sometimes that's a little dangerous.'



    The Bears jumped out to early leads of 7-0 and 19-6 behind the scoring of senior Derreck Brooks and junior Jordan Howard in one of their best starts of the season. Howard's three-pointer at the 16:00 mark made it 19-6 and the Bears eventually pushed that to 29-14 on Howard's layup with 11:42 left in the half. After the Cardinals cut the margin to seven points with 9:10 to play, UCA pushed it back to double figures for the rest of the half, settling for the 14-point halftime margin. The 50 points was the most the Bears have scored in any half this season. Howard, Kamba and Brooks all reached double figures by halftime.

    "It was 100 percent on us,' Pennell said of the difference in halves. "I give them credit for fighting back but they didn't do anything differently. Maybe they played a little bit harder, but there were no new schemes or anything. I just thought we got real, real complacent and stagnant, and just didn't shoot the ball nearly as well as we did the first half.'

    Early in the second half, UCA's lead reached 17 points at 57-40 after a jumper by Kamba, who was dominant, finishing with 25 points and 9 rebounds. But the Cardinals, winners of four consecutive games, closed the gap quickly, using an 18-2 run, capped by a pair of three-pointers that gave them their first lead of the game at 64-61 with 9:00 to play. From there the teams traded the lead, with the biggest margin being a four-point lead for UIW with 3:29 left.

    Kamba had double figures for the 11th straight game, while Howard was 2 of 5 from three-point range and finished with 18 points and four assists. Brooks added 16 points _ 11 in the first half _ and 9 rebounds as the Bears outrebounded the Cardinals 38-36, including 12 on the offensive end.

    "He (Kamba) did his part,' said Pennell. "I was happy when we went to him down the stretch because he delivered. And that's what you'd expect from one of your best players. I just think he's playing at a really incredible level right now. And I feel for him because I know he's putting everything into it. He's as hurt as anyone in the lockeroom right now, but he certainly did his part.'

    The Bears continue their five-game homestand on Thursday night against Northwestern State, which lost to Lamar on Saturday to drop to 3-5 in SLC play. Tipoff is 7 p.m. at the Farris Center.