BEARS MAKES HISTORY WITH OVERTIME CBI VICTORY

[Seminole Indian]

SEATTLE, Wash. _  The University of Central Arkansas Bears made history Wednesday night with their first NCAA Division I postseason tournament victory, a 92-90 overtime victory over the Seattle Redhawks in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) at the Connolly Complex.

UCA shot 71.4 percent (5 of 7) from the field in the extra period and advanced to the second round in its first-ever postseason tournament since moving to Division I in 2006-2007. The victory also earned the Bears their first home postseason game at the Farris Center where they will continue their First Security Postseason run, hosting Jacksonville State in second-round action. Jacksonville State beat Canisius 80-78, also in overtime, in Buffalo, N.Y. on Wednesday night.

"It's awful nice to win our first-ever postseason game and get a chance to play again,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. "Seattle U has a really good team, they really do. I like their pieces.Their guards are athletic and quick, and their big man is a load. He's just really good down there. But man, we just kept coming back. The thing I like, I thought it was just a total team effort. There were guys coming off the bench that really picked us up and gave us a lift. They were ready when you called on them, and they came in and got the job done.'

The Bears struggled offensively in the first half, shooting 39.4 percent from the field, but found their touch from the field and the free-throw line in the second half. Senior guard Jordan Howard was just 2 of 11 from three-point range, but found other ways to score and finished with 30 points, including 18 in the decisive second half. Howard, coming off one of his lowest scoring games of his career in the Bears' loss to Stephen F. Austin in last week's Southland Conference Tournament, was also 6 of 7 at the line as UCA made 16 of 22 for the game.

"The difference in this game and the Stephen F. Austin game was his teammates stepped up around him,' said Pennell. "He had some help, he had some guys make some big plays Matthew Mondesir was huge, Hayden (Koval) hit a couple of shots. And (Mathieu) Kamba came alive in the last probably seven minutes, counting overtime. I just thought those guys, collectively when they played and did what they were supposed to do, we did a really nice job.'

Koval, a 7-foot freshman who had the task of battling Seattle's 7-0, 285-pound center Aaron Menzies, finished with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. He broke the school single-season record held by Durrell Nevels since 2007 and now has 103 blocked shots, which ranks in the Top 5 in the nation. Kamba, a senior from Calgary, Alberta, had 10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots. Kamba had two slam dunks in the final two minutes, one when he stole a Redhawks' inbounds pass under the UCA goal.

"I was really happy that they could make some plays down the stretch like that,' said Pennell. "They deserve some good things to happen to them. It's fun here at the end of the year. I think that's five out of six (wins). I don't how pretty it is all the time, but we're playing harder than we've ever played.'

UCA (18-16) fought back from a nine-point deficit in the first half and sent the game to overtime with a Koval layup, followed by a blocked shot by the freshman in the final 15 seconds of regulation. In overtime, jumpers by Howard and Mondesir offset a couple of three-pointers by the Redhawks. Kamba's dunk gave the Bears an 86-85 lead with 2:14 remaining and the Bears would never trail again. Another Kamba dunk and a free throw by Howard made it 91-88 with 11 seconds left.

Jones then made 1 of 2 at the line with five seconds remaining to seal the win and keep the Bears' season alive.

"I think it's a real honor to get to take these guys back home,' said Pennell. "They played their last game there against Northwestern State and thought that would be the end. And here they get a chance to go back, and not only do that, but to win another game and advance in this tournament. And I think when you play games like this and win games like this, it teaches you some things that you couldn't get in a regular-season game.'

Seattle (20-14) had four players in double figures, led by Matej Kavas with 25 points, including dive three-pointers. Menzies, the Seattle center, had 119 points and 12 rebounds, while Jordan Hill was a rebound short of a triple double with 19 pionts, 9 rebounds and 10 assists for the Redhawks.

Howard, the career scoring and three-point leader at UCA and in the state of Arkansas, said the Bears still have some basketball in them.

"To get a win here is huge for the program going foward, and going forward in this tournament,' said the SLC Player of the Year. "We feel like we can win this. We're just trying to build this momentum and play as long as we can. Just being with this group of guys is special and we know we're never going to get that back. So just to share some moments we have together, and knowing that we can still play and know we have something to play for, was huge for us.

"So we really wanted to win this game.'

http://www.ucasports.com/news/2018/3/15/mens-basketball-bears-makes-history-with-overtime-cbi-victory.aspx