CONWAY — Entering the fourth quarter on Saturday, Central Arkansas found itself holding onto a one-point lead over Nicholls.
It took all of 15 seconds in the final period for the Colonels to retake the lead for good, as the Sugar Bears went scoreless for the first 6:37 of the quarter – allowing Nicholls to go on a 12-0 run to build a lead just big enough to keep the Sugar Bears at bay, as Central Arkansas fell 64-60 in the Farris Center.
The Sugar Bears (6-10, 1-5 Southland) eventually got the offense going late in the quarter – scoring 18 points over the final 3:23 – but came up just short after whittling the Nicholls (10-8, 4-2) lead to as little as two in the final minute.
With the Colonels up nine with just more than two minutes to go, the Sugar Bears outscored Nicholls 7-2 over the next 45 seconds to trim the margin to four. After a free throw from Nicholls' Cassidy Barrios, Antonija Bozic drilled a 3-pointer to bring the Sugar Bears to within two with 1:11 left. Airi Hamilton answered for Nicholls on the Colonels' next possession, but Taylor Sells scored with 41 seconds remaining to make it 58-56.
After Tykeria Williams hit three of four free throws over the Colonels' next two possessions, the Sugar Bears found themselves back down five with 12 seconds remaining. Mekaylan Hicks scored inside to make the deficit three, but Barrios was good on both of her free throw attempts with 8 seconds to play to push the lead back to five. Sells got one last basket in the waning seconds, and the Sugar Bears sent Hamilton to the line with two seconds left where she made the second of two to set the final score.
Kamry Orr led the Sugar Bears with 14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in 24 minutes. Sells and Bozic each had 13 points, and Hicks added 9 points and a team-high 6 rebounds.
Barrios had 25 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals for the Colonels, with Williams adding 12 points and Hamilton 11.
The Sugar Bears made more field goals (23) than the Colonels (19) and connected on more 3-pointers (6 to 4), but Nicholls held a decided advantage at the free throw line, hitting 22 of 26 (84.6 percent) while the Sugar Bears were just 8 of 13 (61.5).
The win was the first for the Colonels over the Sugar Bears in six tries, with Central Arkansas' last loss to Nicholls coming in 2015.
The Sugar Bears hit the road again next week, facing New Orleans on Wednesday and Abilene Christian on Saturday before returning to the Farris Center for four of the next five beginning with Stephen F. Austin on Jan. 30.
