Jordan Howard scored 26 points on 7-of-16 shooting to lead the University of Central Arkansas (17-15) to a victory over Lamar (19-13) in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament in Katy, Texas.
It was the Bears' first victory in program history in the Southland tournament.
The seventh-seeded Bears held the sixth-seeded Cardinals to seven points over the final 11:41 of the game to win going away. UCA outscored Lamar 22-7 from that point on to advance to today's second round against No. 3 seed Stephen F. Austin at 7:30 p.m.
"Really proud of the effort and proud of our win, and the fact that we get a chance to play again tomorrow," UCA Coach Russ Pennell. "It feels good. I was real excited for our guys. That was a big goal that they had this year, to make the tournament and then at least win a game.
"The thing I like, they were celebrating in there, but they keep saying three more, three more. And I like that. I love that enthusiasm."
Howard also made 3 three-pointers and was 9 of 10 at the free-throw line.
Matthew Mondesir had 12 points for UCA. Mathieu Kamba added 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
The Bears led 33-31 at halftime, but Lamar outscored them 17-6 to start the second half.
UCA trailed 48-39 with 13:20 remaining, then scored six consecutive points to pull within 48-45 at the 11:41 mark. Howard capped an 11-2 run with a layup that tied the game at 50-50 with 9:51 left.
The Bears led 59-55 with less than four minutes remaining. Howard knocked down four free throws in a row to give UCA a 65-57 lead with 38.5 seconds left.
Josh Nzeakor led the Cardinals with 23 points and eight rebounds.
Sports on 03/08/2018