C. Arkansas beats Lamar for first Southland tourney win (Mar 07, 2018)
KATY, Texas (AP) League Player of the Year Jordan Howard scored 26 points and Central Arkansas shut down Lamar in the second half for its first-ever Southland Conference Tournament win in Wednesday night's opener.
Matthew Mondesir scored 12 points and Mathieu Kamba and Thatch Unruh added 11 apiece for the seventh-seeded Bears (17-15), who face No. 3 Stephen F. Austin in Thursday's quarterfinal.
Trailing 33-31 at halftime after 12 lead changes, Lamar opened with a 13-3 run capped by DeAndre Love's 3 and led 44-36 as the Bears struggled offensively early in the second half. But Lamar went cold as the Bears' defense stiffened, and UCA led 61-55 on Kamba's putback after holding the Cardinals scoreless for seven minutes.
The Bears finished on a 15-2 run with Howard hitting four free throws for a 65-57 lead with 31 seconds to go while the Cardinals scored just two points in the final nine minutes.
Josh Nzeakor scored a career-high 23 points for the No. 6 seed Cardinals (20-12), who shot 37.1 percent from the field.
