SOUTHLAND MEN
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 67,
SAM HOUSTON STATE 65
Freshman Aaron Weidenaar made three free throws with 1.5 seconds left, and Central Arkansas secured a Southland Conference victory over Sam Houston State on Saturday afternoon at the Farris Center.
Weidenaar, a freshman from Bozeman, Mont., was fouled on a three-point attempt with 1.5 seconds left and sank all three foul shots, his first three makes of the season, to help the Bears win their league opener for just the second time in 11 seasons in the Southland. Central Arkansas (2-12, 1-0 Southland) broke a nine-game losing streak. The game was tied 12 times and there were 10 lead changes.
Junior guard Jordan Howard topped the Bears with 29 points, hitting 5 of 8 from three-point range and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line.
Preseason Southland favorite Sam Houston State (9-6, 0-2) led 64-60 with 2:29 to play before Central Arkansas got a pair of free throws from Howard at the 2:10 mark and a jumper from Mathieu Kamba with 1:38 to play to tie it at 64-64. Central Arkansas’ defense forced a shot- clock violation before the teams traded missed jumpers, and Central Arkansas turned the ball over with 11 seconds left and fouled Sam Houston State’s John Dewey. The sophomore guard made just one of two at the line for a 65-64 lead with 6.7 seconds remaining.
The Bears inbounded the ball, advanced it and found Weidenaar in the right corner. He was fouled by Jovante’ Spivey at the buzzer. Weidenaar made his free throws, and Sam Houston State misfired on a long three-point attempt at the buzzer.
SOUTHLAND WOMEN
LAMAR 70,
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 56
Lamar used a 13-point run spanning the third and fourth quarters to beat Central Arkansas at the Farris Center in Conway on Saturday in the Southland Conference opener for both teams.
After Lamar (8-3, 1-0 Southland) scored the first seven points of the second half to run out to a 14-point lead, the Sugar Bears (8-3, 0-1) answered midway through the quarter with a 9-0 run to cut the Cardinals lead to five with 2:55 left in the quarter. The Cardinals, however, would close out the quarter with a 7-0 run, then add on the first six points of the fourth to build a 16-point lead that the Sugar Bears could not answer.
The Sugar Bears were unable to pull any closer than 12 in the final quarter as the Cardinals outscored UCA 20-16 en route to their fourth victory in five tries against the Sugar Bears.
The Sugar Bears held the Cardinals to 39 percent shooting from the field, but Lamar was able to get some separation from Central Arkansas beyond the three-point line by hitting 5 of 14 (35.7 percent) to just 2 of 14 (14.3 percent) for the Sugar Bears.
Kierra Jordan, Brianna Mullins and Taylor Strickland each had 11 points for the Sugar Bears, with Jordan pulled down a team-high 8 rebounds.
Moe Kinard, Lamar’s leading scorer at 14.7 points, led the Cardinals with 25 points.