Jan 20th, 2007 06:49PM
by: Steve East

By STEVE EAST
UCA SID

LAKE CHARLES, La. — McNeese State had been there before, a lot lately, and it showed as the Cowboys knocked off the University of Central Arkansas Bears 61-56 in overtime Saturday at Burton Coliseum.

The Cowboys, playing their third overtime game in the past four games, outscored the Bears 8-0 in the first three minutes of the extra period to win their second overtime game in the past week. McNeese won despite an eight-minute scoring drought midway through the second half that saw the Bears take a nine-point lead with 5:20 to play.

Despite the second-half lull and the nine-point deficit, the Cowboys fought back to within striking distance and finally re-took the lead from the Bears when point guard John Ford tossed in a 25-foot 3-pointer with 28.8 seconds left. The 3-pointer was only the third of the game for McNeese.

Junior guard Nate Bowie drove the lane and answered for the Bears with a short jumper with 14.2 left to play. Ford then missed a 15-foot jumper with five seconds left in regulation, Bradley rebounded but missed at the buzzer from the baseline to force overtime. UCA had two costly turnovers in the last minute of regulation that might have cost them the win in regulation.

The Cowboys (7-12, 2-3) knew what to do in overtime, jumping out to a 55-49 lead by scoring on their first four possessions before UCA finally got two free throws from Durrell Nevels three minutes into the extra period.

Troy Aaron beat the Bears deep for a layup and a 59-51 Cowboys lead, their biggest of the game, with 1:50 left. Bowie made a layup for UCA with 1:05 remaining and the Bears eventually made 5 of 7 at the free-throw line to get within 59-56 with 16 seconds left. Ford made a pair at the line with 14.6 to seal it as UCA’s LeMar Phillips missed a 3-point attempt to end the game.

“I think those two turnovers really threw a lot of hard work out the window," said UCA Coach Rand Chappell. “But I’m actually extremely proud of our guys. Tonight was a lot more fun game for me personally because it’s fun to be in the fight until the end. I thought we definitely fought hard but we kicked away a couple of turnovers at the end that hurt."

The Bears’ loss overshadowed an inspired performance from senior center Fernando Johnson, who had career highs in points (13) and rebounds (15). Johnson, a 6-foot-9 senior from Milwaukee, came in averaging 3.8 points and 6.8 rebounds and had been scoreless in the Bears’ past two games.

“Not that we expect Fernando to be a scorer, but he’d scored nine points in the past seven games," Chappell said. “It was great to see him do what he did tonight. I told him before when he plays good we win, when he doesn’t, we lose. I guess that didn’t hold up today, but he played awfully well and we probably should have won it.’  

Johnson made two of the Bears’ first three shots of the game to surpass his average in the first four minutes of the game. That aggressiveness led the Bears to an early 9-5 lead. After the Cowboys tied it at 9-9, the Bears put together a 9-1 run, capped by a Johnson dunk, to push out to an 18-10 lead with 8:25 left in the first half.

UCA kept the lead in that range for the remainder of the half until the Cowboys, who made only five of their first 23 field-goal attempts, cut it to 25-21 at halftime on a basket by Jarvis Bradley in the final minute. McNeese point guard John Ford led all scorers at halftime with nine points on 4-of-4 shooting.

The Bears had a 12-0 run, capped by a Marcus Pillow three-pointer, midway through the second half to grab a 43-34 lead with 5:20 remaining.

UCA (6-13, 1-5) had four players with at least 10 points, led by Johnson. Bowie and Nevels had 11 points each, with Nevels adding 9 rebounds. Pillow added 10 points for the Bears, who shot 27.1 percent from the field, including 1 of 11 in overtime.

Ford topped the Cowboys with 16 points, while John Pichon and Quentin Gonzales had 11 points each.

UCA hosts Southeastern Louisiana at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Farris Center.