SOUTHLAND MEN

Miles steps up in Bears’ victory

— Central Arkansas’ men turned to their preseason All-Southland Conference guard to snap a five-game losing streak Saturday afternoon at the Farris Center.

Junior LaQuentin Miles scored eight of his 20 points in the final 3:16 to give the Bears an 80-78 victory over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in front of an announced crowd of 1,889.

“Q came out and played extremely well,” UCA Coach Corliss Williamson said. “I was about to sub him out of the game. It built up his momentum, and we rolled him through the end.”

With Saturday’s victory, the Bears (10-16) finished 4-0 against the Ohio Valley Conference this season, also defeating Tennessee-Martin at home and Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri on the road.

More importantly, UCA, which played without freshmen Dauoda Berete, Terrell Brown and Sean Young, who were suspended for violations of team rules, found a way to win its first game since Feb. 2 against Nicholls State.

“We know in the course of a long season you’re going to have ups and downs and good and bad times,” Williamson said. “We have to fight through it. I was proud of our guys’ effort.”

Senior forward Jarvis Garner had 19 points, while guard Robert Crawford added 18 for UCA.

The game was tied with 3:16 remaining when Miles’ floater gave UCA a 73-71 lead. After Kris Davis’ two free throws tied the game at 73-73, Miles hit two free throws for a 75-73 advantage. Miles came back on the defensive end and blocked Mark Yelovich’s shot and drove to the basket for a 77-73 lead with 1:39 remaining.

Davis pulled Southern Illinois-Edwardsville within 77-75 with 38 seconds remaining. But Miles made two free throws to push the lead to 79-75. Tim Johnson, who had a game-high 22 points for the Cougars (9-16), hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 79-78 with seven seconds left. But Garner hit 1 of 2 free throws and Yelovich’s three point attempt at the buzzer did not fall.

The Bears, who trailed 43-36 at halftime, shot 60 percent (15 of 25) from the floor in the second half and 52.8 percent (28 of 53) overall. The Cougars, who shot 54.6 percent (18 of 33) in the first half, were held to 12-of-27 shooting (44.4) in the second half.

Yelovich scored 20 points for Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, while Davis and Michael Messer each added 15.

Sports, Pages 33 on 02/24/2013

Upcoming Events