CONWAY, Ark. – The Bellarmine men's basketball team, shorthanded once again due to a bevy of injuries, battled Central Arkansas down to the wire, but fell 59-57 Saturday night at Farris Hall.

Bellarmine (4-15, 0-4 ASUN) trailed Central Arkansas (6-13, 2-1 ASUN) 59-56 with three seconds left when UCA opted to foul while up three and send Alec Pfriem to the line. Pfriem calmly hit the first freebie and intentionally missed the second. Langdon Hatton was able to get a hand on the rebound and tried to tip it in, but hit the front of the rim. Peter Suder was able to gather Hatton's miss and find Garrett Tipton waiting for a potential game-tying shot at the top of the key, but Tipton misfired left at the buzzer.

It was an especially tough pill for the Knights to swallow after leading again in the second half, 39-37. But the lack of bodies was again apparent as the Knights played only six players over eight minutes and the Bears were able to rotate nine.

The Knights got out to a quick 5-0 start on a floater by Suder and a long three from the wing by Johnson. UCA rallied back to tie it at 5-5 and the teams played the first half mostly even after that. The Knights carried a 33-32 lead into the locker room after a first half that featured nine ties.
UCA took a 41-39 lead on a four-point play by Tucker Anderson with 13:55 left. That was part of a 10-1 UCA run capped by a Daniel Sofield three with 12:48 left to give the Bears command, putting them up five.

The Knights would not go away, however. They tied it up at 52-52 on a corner three by Johnson with 5:14 left and again after a layup by Pfriem with 2:54 left. But the Bears were able to answer to maintain their lead.

Tucker Anderson had a chance to put the Bears back up four with 17 seconds left, but missed the second of two free throws to keep the Knights alive. Johnson, however, was unable to convert a layup on the other end. Johannes Kirsipuu then missed the front end of a 1-and-1 to begin the final sequence.

Tipton led all scorers with 18 points on 7-for-15 shooting, 3-for-7 from beyond the arc. Suder (12 points), Ben Johnson (11) and Hatton (11) all finished with double figures. Pfriem finished with five.

Carl Daughtery Jr. led the way for UCA with 17 points and Kirsipuu dished out five assists.

Bash Wieland, Dezmond McKinney and Landin Hacker were all sidelined again today. BU did not have any bench points and only Billy Smith received significant time off the bench with 21 minutes.

Bellarmine has a week off before they return to action next Saturday, Jan. 20, at Eastern Kentucky. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET with coverage on ESPN+.

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