CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. _ One brief second-half defensive lapse kept the University of Central Arkansas Bears from securing a much-needed victory on Monday night.

Instead, the Southeast Missouri Redhawks surged past the Bears, overcoming a 12-point deficit, to grab a hard-fought 70-68 victory on their home floor at the Show Me Center.

UCA led 46-34 with 12 minutes remaining after opening the second half on a 17-5 run. Senior Masai Olowokere sparked that run with a pair of three-pointers. But the Redhawks (1-3) chipped away at the lead and got a pair of three-pointers and a three-point play to get within one point with 6:30 remaining.

They finally went in front on a three-pointer with 1:15 left. UCA tied it back up at 68-68 with 36.5 seconds to play on a basket by sophomore Glory Etim but Aquan Smart made a baseline jumper to give SEMO a 70-68 lead. UCA got a final possession with under eight seconds left but freshman Tucker Anderson's shot came after the final buzzer.

"We had a great opportunity tonight," said a disappointed UCA head coach Anthony Boone. "There was a stretch in the second half where our defense let up and Southeast Missouri scored on quite a few possessions. There was a stretch of 11 possessions where they scored on 10 of them. 

"Outside of those, we stopped them quite a bit. That really was the difference in the game, that kept them in it, where we should have pulled away. That let them stay within striking distance and we couldn't finish it off."

UCA held SEMO to 1 of 13 from three-point range in the first half and connected on 11 of 16 free throws on its end of the court while the Redhawks shot just two free throws. That statistic evened up considerably in the second half as SEMO made 14 of 19 at the line and UCA was just 3 of 6. UCA's Elias Cato fouled out with 48.3 seconds remaining and both Daniel Sofield and Etim finished the game with four fouls. SEMO had no player with more than three fouls.

The Bears also took care of the ball with just nine turnovers while forcing 14. Sophomore guard Johannes Kirsipuu was forced to play nearly the entire game (35:58) due to injuries to junior Camren Hunter and freshman Javion Guy-King. He finished with 4 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and two steals.

Graduate transfer Daniel Sofield was 3 of 5 from three-point range and finished with 14 points. Etim had his second consecutive career high with 15 points on a perfect 7-of-7 night shooting, and added 8 rebounds. Cato had 14 points and 4 rebounds, while Olowokere scored 10 points and had 3 assists.

"Daniel was really good tonight, on both ends of the floor. Shooting the ball and defensively," said Boone. "And YoYo (KIrsipuu) played the best game of his college career here tonight. It was quite impressive. He did a great job. And his play was really what propelled us to have the lead most of the game.

"Glory was in foul trouble, and he's been under the weather, too, but he had an amazing game. The last couple of games he's looked really good."

The Bears continue their three-game road trip at Kansas State at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Manhattan, Kan.