Howard scores 26 as Central Arkansas holds off NW State

Mar 4, 2018, 01:45 am

CONWAY, Ark. -- Jordan Howard scored six of his 26 points in the final minutes and Mathieu Kamba drove for a layup in the last seconds to seal a 61-58 victory for Central Arkansas over Northwestern State in the regular-season finale on Saturday night.

Central Arkansas (16-15, 10-8) will play on as the Bears had already clinched the No. 7 seed in the Southland Conference Tournament beginning in Katy, Texas on Wednesday.

Central Arkansas led 28-27 at the break but Northwestern quickly took a second-half lead and held it until Howard scored five unanswered points to go ahead 46-44 at the 8:18 mark. Ishmael Lane responded with a dunk and Czar Perry hit a jumper to retake the lead 48-46. The Bears took the lead for good after a Howard layup with 5:14 left.

Lane missed a 3-point attempt with eight seconds left.

Howard was 3 of 7 from deep with seven rebounds and three steals. Matthew Mondesir added 13 points for Central Arkansas, which closed out the regular season with three straight victories.

DeAndre Love, Perry and Malik Metoyer had 11 points apiece for Northwestern State (4-25, 1-17).