LAKE CHARLES, La. _ The winner of the annual "Red Beans & Rice Bowl" and battle for first place in the Southland Conference standings was eventually decided by who made the least number of mistakes Saturday night, or at least who made the last mistake.

No. 14/16 McNeese State connected on a 24-yard field goal with 7:27 to play and No. 13/14 University of Central Arkansas, after an errant snap, misfired on a 43-yard attempt with 5:11 left that helped the Cowboys escape with a 23-21 victory at Cowboy Stadium. The win was the first in the series for the Cowboys since 2015 and pulled them within 6-4 in the annual trophy game that began in 2008.

The win allowed McNeese (6-2, 5-1) to take over sole possession of first place while UCA dropped into a jumbled four-way tie for second with Sam Houston State, Incarnate Word and Nicholls State.

UCA (5-3-, 4-2) had a pair of interceptions, some costly penalties and was 0 for 10 on third-down conversions for the game. Still the Bears had one last chance, taking over at their own 20 with 2:46 remaining. The Bears hit what looked like a big 42-yard pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Luke Hales to senior Jakari Dillard down to the McNeese 38. But after a lengthy officials review, the call on the field of a reception was overturned and UCA was forced to punt with 2:19 remaining and never got the ball back.

"We just didn't play very clean tonight,' said UCA head coach Nathan Brown. "We had a couple of special teams errors, early in the game we had some unorthodox penalties that hurt us, kept some drives alive for them. And they are a good football team. They made a change at quarterback that gave them a spark. It took us a little bit to figure them out. Once we did, I thought the defense played great in the second quarter and the second half.

"And we made some plays on offense, but we just didn't sustain enough drives and had too many errors in the end.'
 

The Bears apparently held the Cowboys to a field goal on their first possession of the game but a personal foul for hands to the face gave MSU a first down at the 11. The Cowboys scored three plays later for an early 7-0 advantage. UCA matched that even quicker with a one-play touchdown drive when Hales hit a wide-open Dillard for a 75-yard score on the Bears' first offensive play to tie it at 7-7 at the 10:39 mark of the first quarter.

McNeese got a 16-yard touchdown run from quarterback Cody Orgeron and a pair of field goals from Gunnar Raborn to push its lead to 20-7 with 7:48 to play in the first half.

The Bears cut their deficit to 20-14 when Hales found sophomore Brandon Myers with a 24-yard touchdown pass with 4:07 left in the half. Hales had connected with Dwayne Smith for 30 yards and Dillard for 11, and also got a pass interference call on McNeese to set up the touchdown.

The Bears got a gift just before halftime, trailing 20-14. UCA was stopped at midfield with under a minute left but the McNeese returner muffed the punt and UCA's Hunter Toomey recovered at the 9 with :47 seconds remaining. But Hales was intercepted for the second time in the right corner of the end zone on UCA's first play to set the halftime final.
 

After the teams traded punts for most of the third quarter, UCA took advantage of a turnover to grab its first and only lead of the game. Sophomore defensive end Chris Terrell forced a fumble by Ross Ryan and Duke Upshaw recovered for the Bears at the UCA 37. Junior running back Carlos Blackman broke off a 39-yard run up the middle for the touchdown, and Matt Cummins' PAT made it a 21-20 UCA lead with just :13 left in the third period.

McNeese re-took the lead with a 24-yard Raborn field goal with 7:27 to play. From there, the Bears put together a drive that reached the McNeese 25 before an incomplete pass forced the 43-yard field goal attempt. The snap was wide and Cummin's attempt missed right. UCA's defense, which held McNeese to 103 yards in the second half, quickly forced a punt and took over at its own 20 with 2:46 on the clock.

Two incomplete passes set up third and 10 when Hales threw down the right sideline to Dillard for what would have been a been 42-yard completion. However, after a lengthy replay review, the pass was ruled incomplete and UCA punted. The Cowboys got one first down on their own, then took advantage of a UCA penalty to run out the clock as UCA exhausted all of its time outs stopping the clock.

"I just told them, you can go two directions with this,' said Brown. "I'm not asking them not to feel bad and hurt, but it's about pulling on the same end of the rope. We can take these next three games whatever direction we want. If we handle our business the next three games, then we can have a conversation on selection Sunday, and maybe have enough to get in (the FCS playoffs). 

"But we're worried about getting better for the one game next week. These next three games are going to be difficult. Hopefully we'll learn and be better for this. I told them it's time to learn. If we're not learning and getting better from this, then I'm not doing a good job as a coach.'
 

Hales completed 13 of 33 passes for 290 yards, with a pair of touchdowns and interceptions. Dillard had four receptions for 103 yards, while Blackman rushed 12 times for 86 yards and a touchdown. UCA outgained McNeese 402 to 294 yards but the Cowboys controlled the clock 38:12 to 21:35. Terrell, a junior defensive end, had 2.5 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks and a forced fumble for the UCA defense. Duke Upshaw and Hunter Toomey recovered fumbles and Jackie Harvell and Raphael Garner added sacks for the Bears. 

UCA, which broke a three-game winning streak, returns home next Saturday for a Homecoming matchup with the Lamar Cardinals at 6 p.m. on "The Stripes."