Late three lifts UCA to I-40 sweep of UALR

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/MITCHELL PE MASILUN -- 12/8/2018 --
UALR forward Kris Bankston (32) comes up with the rebound during their game against UCA at the Jack Stephens Center Saturday, Dec 8, 2018, in Little Rock.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/MITCHELL PE MASILUN -- 12/8/2018 -- UALR forward Kris Bankston (32) comes up with the rebound during their game against UCA at the Jack Stephens Center Saturday, Dec 8, 2018, in Little Rock.

LITTLE ROCK -- Central Arkansas' men's basketball team had to inbound the ball 70 feet from the rim with 2.2 seconds remaining Saturday against Little Rock with the game tied, 82-82.

Bears point guard DeAndre Jones received the pass near half court, took two dribbles and hit a 25-foot running 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to left Central Arkansas (4-5) to an 85-82 victory over the Trojans (4-6) Saturday in the Jack Stephens center.

"I knew he could take two dribbles," said Central Arkansas head coach Russ Pennell. "I've done this long enough. With 2.2, I told him if you're on the run, you can get two dribbles in. That's exactly what he did."

With 17 seconds remaining and the ball, the Trojans burned 15 seconds before sophomore forward Kris Bankston opened the door for the buzzer-beater by sailing a pass out of bounds. It was Little Rock's 19th and final turnover in a game plagued by mistakes.

"That's what we needed," said Jones, whose 26 points led the Bears. "We just needed that one stop. And I know I'd hit the shot."

"The kid made a tough shot," said Little Rock head coach Darrell Walker. "And it's just bad defense on our part."

The Bears cashed in 29 points off of Little Rock's 19 turnovers. The Trojans also allowed 16 offensive rebounds that resulted in 23 second-chance points for the Bears.

"Nineteen turnovers that led to 29 points, I thought that was big," Walker said. "We kept turning the ball over. We kept turning the ball over.

"Like I told my team, when you hear me screaming on the sideline about turnovers, there's a reason. It's because they turn into points."

Yet, the Trojans had a chance to win.

Little Rock junior guard Rayjon Tucker, who led all scorers with 27 points, scored the Trojans' last seven points in the final 3:13.

The Trojans held an 82-77 lead with 1:55 to go, then committed three consecutive turnovers and allowed the Bears to put together an 8-0 run in the final 1:34.

"We have to find a way to start winning games," Walker said. "We have to find a way to start growing up a little bit.

"It's no more of this, 'We're young.' Yes, we're young. We don't know how to win. That's obvious. We just don't know how."

The Bears and Trojans flipped the lead 11 times and knotted Saturday's game in a tie 12 different occasions.

Central Arkansas defeated the Trojans, 78-65, on Nov. 28 in Conway in the first game of the inaugural Governor's I-40 Showdown between the in-state schools. UCA now has 22.5 points to Little Rock's 3.2 with 43 total points available.

The Bears held a 44-35 lead at halftime before Little Rock stormed back. Two dunks fueled a second-half run.

Under the rim, Bankston powered a dunk over two defenders with 14:15 to go. On the next possession, Bankston slammed in an alley-oop.

Tucker and freshman point guard Markquis Nowell, who missed the previous three games with a high ankle sprain, rattled in 3-pointers shortly after Bankston's dunks. Nowell's three put Little Rock up, 59-56, with 11:48 remaining.

Neither team led by more than five points the rest of the way.

"It was such a great win for us," Pennell said. "We got behind. Then we caught up. Then we got the lead. Then we lose the lead again.

"You get to a point where we've got to figure out how to win those games. To pull that out was huge."

Hayden Koval had 19 and six rebounds for the Bears. Matthew Mondesir had 12 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Bankston had 20 points for Little Rock. Freshman Horace Wyatt Jr. scored 16 points for the Trojans, matching his career total from his previous nine games.

Sports on 12/10/2018

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