ABILENE – Five years ago, it was ACU that dealt Central Arkansas some last-second misery when the Bears were called for goaltending on a last-second layup by
Parker Wentz, giving ACU a one point win and its first Southland Conference victory since re-joining the league earlier just a few months before.
Saturday afternoon at Moody Coliseum, it was the Bears' turn to bury a last-second game-winner, only this one hurt the Wildcats a lot more than the 2014 loss hurt the Bears.
Needing a win to maintain its hold on seventh place in the race for one of the final two spots in the Southland Conference Post-Season Tournament, the Wildcats instead saw the Bears outscore them 15-5 in the final 7:16 of the contest to pull out a 74-72 victory that was capped when Thatch Unruh pulled down an offensive rebound and hit a short baseline jumper at the buzzer to give his team the win.
When ACU pulled off the Wentz miracle five years ago, neither team was playing for post-season tournament bids or much of anything else besides pride. But Saturday afternoon inside Moody Coliseum was a different story.
On the day the university celebrated the 50
th anniversary of the Wildcats' home and saw John Ray Godfrey's number 14 retired in a halftime ceremony, both ACU and Central Arkansas battled as one would expect from two teams vying for a spot in the conference tournament next month in Katy.
Both teams put together large runs throughout the game to either pull out to decent advantages or catch up to the other. UCA led by as many as nine points in the first half, while ACU led by as many as eight points in the second half. After trailing 41-35 at halftime, the Wildcats opened the second half with six straight points to tie the game at 41-41 before watching the Bears pull away again to a 56-48 lead behind incomparable senior guard Jordan Howard, the nation's third-leading scorer, who finished with a game-high 29 points.
But ACU wouldn't go away as junior center
Hayden Howell's hustle, defensive intensity and rebounding sparked an ACU run that eventually got the game tied at 57-57 with 10:37 to play when
Jaylen Franklin hit a layup for ACU. With the gam tied 59-59, ACU went on an 8-0 run behind some terrific defensive work by Howell, a jumper by
Jaren Lewis, two buckets by Franklin and a jumper by
Jalone Friday, giving ACU a 67-59 lead with 7:34 to play.
But the Wildcats went stone cold from the floor as they hit just 1 of their last 10 shots from the field – a 3-pointer by
Payten Ricks gave ACU a 72-68 lead with 3:30 left in the contest. ACU would not score again in the game. In the final 2:52, ACU was 0 for 5 from the floor, while the Bears didn't hit a field goal until Unruh's game-winner, but kept creeping closer at the foul line.
Howard hit a pair of free throws and Unruh and Hayden Koval each hit one to knot the score at 72-72 with 51 seconds left. ACU had the ball with 30 seconds left and 20 on the shot clock after Ricks was fouled driving the baseline and got the ball inside to Lewis for a good look at a potential game-winning shot. But it hit off the back iron and Koval corralled the defensive rebound.
UCA went up the floor and Howard took a potential game-winning 3-point attempt that was off the mark. But Unruh was left uncovered and grabbed the offensive rebound and put it back in just before the buzzer sounded to give the Bears a big win and deal the Wildcats another heartbreaking loss at home where they are 4-5 in league play this season with three of the five losses coming by the margins of two, four and two points.
Four Wildcats finished in double figures, led by 15 points from Friday and a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double by Lewis. Franklin finished with 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals, while
Tevin Foster – playing in his final home game as a Wildcat, long with fellow seniors
Drake Green (seven points off the bench) and
Isaiah Tripp – finished with 13 points.
The Wildcats were once again hurt at the free throw line as the Bears hit 16 of 21 shots from the line, while ACU went just 5 for 10. And the Bears out-rebounded the Wildcats 39-35, including the decisive offensive rebound by Unruh.
ACU is now 15-14 on the season and 7-9 in the Southland and tied with McNeese for eighth in the league standings. And even though ACU beat the Cowboys in their only meeting this season, the Cowboys hold the tiebreaker advantage over ACU. The Wildcats will close out the regular season on the road beginning with Wednesday night's game at Stephen F. Austin and finishing it up next Saturday at Incarnate Word.
