CONWAY, Ark. _  The Southeastern Louisiana Lions made 23 of 28 at the free-throw line in the second half Saturday to down the University of Central Arkansas Bears 75-67 in Southland Conference action at the Farris Center.

The Bears (10-14, 5-6) made 11 of 13 at the line in the first half compared to just 3 of 4 for the Lions (11-13, 7-4). That discrepancy evened up dramatically in the second half as UCA fell behind late and was forced to foul. SLU made 13 of 16 at the line in the final 3:40 to hold onto its lead and even the season series.

UCA, which won the first meeting in Hammond 73-71, had four players in double figures, led by sophomore center Hayden Koval with 14 points. However, the Bears shot just 34 percent overall for the game, including 6 of 24 (25 percent) from three-point range. UCA was 3 of 16 from the perimeter in the final 20 minutes.

"They shortened their bench, as far as minutes played by players,' said UCA associate head coach Anthony Boone. "And they know that we like to get up and down, and making the game slower, shortening the game was in their favor. And we didn't help ourselves a few times when we walked the ball up the floor instead of racing it up the floor. It took the pressure off them and they had less time to guard us in the half court. 

"When we only have 20, 18 seconds in the possession, as opposed to having more like 23, 25, then it's harder to get a quality shot.' 

UCA trailed 38-30 at halftime after SLU shot 51.9 percent, made seven three-pointers and pulled down eight offensive rebounds. The Bears opened the second half with a 6-0 run and eventually tied the game at 40-40 on a pair of free throws by sophomore DeAndre Jones. Two more free throws by Eddy Kayouloud at the 13:10 mark tied it again at but a SLU three-pointer by senior guard Marlain Veal put the Bears behind for the rest of the night.

SLU's lead reached a game-high of 11 points at 61-50 with 7:22 remaining but the Bears fought back and got to within 71-67 on a pair of Thatch Unruh free throws with 18.3 left. But Veal, an 81.6-percent free-throw shooter, made 4 of 4 from there to seal it. UCA held SLU to just 33.3 percent shooting in the second half but the free throw differential of 10 was the difference. 

Veal finished with 21 points, including 11 of 12 at the line. Senior center Moses Greenwood added 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Lions.

"Greenwood was a load, and we knew that coming in,' said Boone. "He and Veal, in conference play, were averaging about half of their points. So we knew they were the focus. In the second half, I think Coach (Jay) Ladner was really emphasizing getting the ball inside, and they did that very well. And we didn't cover it well enough. He got it in the paint right where he wanted to. 

"Even though we held them to a low percentage, they still got too much right around the basket.'

For UCA, Jones had 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Unruh scored 11 points and Kayouloud added 10. UCA was outrebounded 41-24 but forced SLU into 20 turnovers and scored 23 points off them.

The Bears continue their three-game homestand on Wednesday night, hosting the Houston Baptist Huskies at 7 p.m. at the Farris Center.