ORANGEBURG, SC — Jordan Howard poured in 26 points and Darraja Parnell added 14 off the bench as Central Arkansas outscored South Carolina State 45-34 in the second half en route to a 73-64 road win on Tuesday.
The Bears (3-2) got their second straight win by overcoming a slow start to take control in the second half, outshooting the Bulldogs (0-5) 53.8 percent to 35.3 after the break to overcome a seven-point deficit early in the period.
Howard, named Southland Conference Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 31 points in two games last week, continued his torrid pace for the season as he topped the 20-point mark for the fifth time in five tries, sitting at a 26.8 points per game average thus far.
Howard knocked down 4 of 10 from 3-point range, raising his career total to 294 – leaving him six shy of becoming the 4th player in Southland Conference history to reach the 300 mark. Howard was also 12-of-13 from the free throw line.
Freshman center Hayden Koval tied a school record with 7 blocked shots, the third player in program history to reach that mark and first in more than a decade – equaling Fernando Johnson's mark vs. Fairfield in 2006 and Durrell Nevels' efforts vs Lamar and Northwestern State in 2007.
In all, the Bears rejected 11 Bulldog shots – tied for the second-most in the program's Division I history, one behind the total of 12 vs Fairfield in Johnson's 7-block game in '06.
Mathieu Kamba added nine points, bringing his career total to 1,013 – pushing him past Mitch Rueter for 4th in the program's D-I history and 18th in overall program history. Kamba now needs just 24 to pass LaQuentin Miles and 38 to get by Marcus Pillow on the Bears' D-I scoring list. Howard, already the program D-I era scoring leader, needs just five points to surpass John Hutchcraft for 3rd on the all-time list at Central Arkansas, and is 381 points shy of Clifton Bush's program record.
The Bears will travel to Tulsa to take on the Golden Hurricane on Saturday before returning home to the Farris Center next Monday when they host Morehead State at 7:00 pm.
