CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears took league-leader Stephen F. Austin to the wire Wednesday night before falling 77-76 in Southland Conference action before a crowd of 1,885 at the Farris Center.

UCA (5-13, 4-3) had three players in double figures, led by junior guard Rylan Bergersen with 19 points, and made 11 three-pointers to put a scare in the Lumberjacks (14-3, 5-1), who took over sole possession of first place in the SLC. The Bears played without All-SLC point guard DeAndre Jones, who had 33 points in UCA's win over Sam Houston State last Saturday. Jones missed the game with an ankle injury. 

The Lumberjacks got the game-winning free throw from senior Kevon Harris with just two seconds remaining to close out a frantic final six minutes. The Bears got six consecutive points, including a back door dunk, from junior Jared Chatham to tied the game at 66-66 with 5:40 remaining. The Lumberjacks then put together an 8-0 run to go up 74-66 with 4:26 left.

But the Bears responded with a basket by Bergersen and an inside jumper by junior center Hayden Koval to close to within 74-70 with 2:00 remaining. SFA's Gavin Kemsmil missed a pair of free throws but UCA turned the ball over on the ensuing possession. John Comeaux scored for the Lumberjacks and redshirt freshman Jaxson Baker answered with a three for the Bears to cut the deficit to just 76-73 with 48 seconds left.

Kemsmil missed two more at the line before Koval tied it with a three pointer from the top with 11.5 on the clock. Harris then drew a foul in the lane, Bergersen's fifth, with just 2 seconds left and made the first free throw for the final margin.

UCA, coming off an 89-82 win over another first-place team, Sam Houston State, last Saturday, fell behind by as much as 16 points at the 6:00 mark of the first half, but then outscored SFA 20-4 down the stretch to forge a 37-37 tie at the half. Bergersen, playing in a facemask due to a broken nose, and Weidenaar had 12 points each in the first half, with Weidenaar hitting 4 of 8 from three-point range. The Bears managed the tie despite 53.6-percent shooting from the Lumberjacks. 

The Bears came back and shot 51.9 percent in the second half and made 6 of 14 (42.9 percent) from three-point range. SFA made 12 of 27 from three-point range for the game, including 4 of 8 from Harris en route to a team-high 19 points. David Kachelries and Cameron Johnson scored 13 each and Roti Ware added 12 for the Lumberjacks.

Bergersen and Kayouloud, who added 17 points, both fouled out for the Bears in the final 30 seconds. Weidenaar, UCA's lone senior, finished 5 of 10 from three-point range for 16 points. The return match between the Bears and Lumberjacks is set for Feb. 19 in Nacogdoches, Texas.

UCA heads to Thibodaux, La., on Saturday to face Nicholls State at 3 p.m. as part of an ESPN+ doubleheader with the Sugar Bears. The Colonels lost 73-72 to Northwestern State on Wednesday night to drop out of first place.