Little Rock Holds Off UCA in Overtime

CONWAY, Ark. – Little Rock (5-2) held on in overtime for an 89-87 win over Central Arkansas (1-5) at the Farris Center on Tuesday night. Led by Marcus Johnson Jr.'s 18 points, five Trojans finished the game in double figures.
 
The win improves Little Rock to 9-0 against the Bears since moving to Division I in 1978-79.
 
Jalen Jackson and Kemy Osse scored 15 points each for the Trojans. Lis Shoshi scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds. Andre Jones came off the bench to score 10 points.
 
Central Arkansas led by as many as four points in overtime, going up 86-82 on a basket by Jordan Mathieu at the 4:10 mark. The Trojans tied the game at 86 on a Johnson 3-pointer before taking the lead for good on Johnson's floater that put Little Rock on top 88-87 with 20 seconds left in overtime. After Jordan Howard's jumper was off the mark, Johnson secured the rebound and made 1 of 2 free throws to bring the game to its 89-87 final score.
 
Little Rock finished the game shooting 50 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3. UCA also shot 50 percent from the floor and made seven 3s on the night.
 
The Trojans led by six at halftime, but Central Arkansas used a 14-0 run early in the second half to take its first lead since the opening minutes, going up 64-60 on Howard's transition layup at the 11:32 mark.
 
The Trojans were up 81-75 after Osse's basket with a little over a minute to play in regulation. UCA pulled back within two, 82-80, on Tanner Schmit's floater with 36 seconds to go. Still up two, Little Rock went to the line with 17.5 seconds to go. But Maurius Hill's first of the 1-and-1 was off the mark.
 
After the rebound, the Bears' Derreck Brooks was able to score the tying basket with four-tenths of a second remaining to send the game to overtime.
 
The game featured five ties and seven lead changes.
 
UCA scored the game's first point but Little Rock responded by scoring the next 13 and built a 19-8 lead by the game's first media timeout. The Trojans began the game by hitting 6 of their first 8 shots from the floor.
 
The Bears would storm back, scoring 10 straight as part of a 13-2 run that tied the game at 25 with 9:20 to play in the half. Jones scored the final six points of the half for the Trojans as Little Rock took a 50-44 lead at the break.
 
Johnson finished the first half with 11 points as four more Trojans finished the half with at least seven points.
 
Little Rock is back in action Saturday against Tulsa in the team's first #PackTheJack game of the season at the Jack Stephens Center. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. and the team's 2016 Sun Belt Championship and NCAA Tournament banners will be unveiled in a pregame ceremony.