TULSA—Marcus Lewis (Long Beach, Calif.) and Andre Hardy (San Diego, Calif.) combined for 38 points and 16 rebounds, but Arkansas-Little Rock closed the game with a 7-0 run and pulled out a 69-66 win over Oral Roberts University, Monday at Mabee Center.

Lewis scored 23 points with five rebounds, while Hardy added 15 points and a career-high with 11 boards. The tandem helped the Golden Eagles (2-6) rally from an 11-point second-half deficit to grab a 66-62 lead following a pair of free throws by Hardy and a layup by Lewis with 4:05 left. But ORU couldn't hold the lead and couldn't score down the stretch.

After Lewis' layup, UALR's Courtney Jackson made one-of-two free throws to make it 66-63 with 3:39 to go. ORU wasted consecutive chances to extend its lead when Robert Jarvis (Humble, Texas) missed a three-pointer on each trip. Each time ORU got the offensive rebound, but Hardy had his return shot blocked on one trip, and Lewis turned it over on the other.

The Trojans (6-1) inched closer when Shane Edwards hit a driving layup, trimming the advantage to 66-65 with 2:01 left. Reggie Guyton (Portland, Ore.) missed a jumper for ORU, Hardy rebounded and Kyron Stokes (Mansfield, Texas) missed an open three. UALR rebounded and Wayne Burton hit the go-ahead basket with 59 seconds left to give the Trojans a 67-66 lead.

Despite the turn of events, ORU still had a chance. Following a timeout, Jarvis tried to get the ball inside to Lewis but UALR's John Fowler took it away and ORU was forced to foul. Brandon Patterson made one-of-two free throws for a 68-66 lead with 31 seconds left, but again, ORU wasn't out of it.

ORU called timeout, but Jarvis missed a floater in the lane with 13 seconds left and the Golden Eagles were unable to get the rebound. Fowler made one free throw with 11 seconds to play to make it 69-66, and Jarvis missed a three-pointer just before the buzzer as UALR escaped with the win.

The Golden Eagles, barely 24 hours removed from returning home after a two-game, five-day road trip to the Dakotas and in the midst of Final Exams, came out sluggish in the first half and trailed 17-11 with 12:21 before halftime.

ORU went on a 10-0 run to take a 21-17 lead on a three-point play by Hardy with 9:19 left in the half. But UALR regrouped and scored 16 of the next 22 points to gain a 33-27 lead with 4:58 remaining. The Trojans eventually led 41-32 at halftime.

Lewis and Hardy were the only Golden Eagles to reach double digits in points. Lewis was 11-of-16 from the field for ORU, but just 1-of-5 from the line in just 26 minutes. Hardy was 3-of-7 and a career-best 9-of-11 from the line. He also added three assists and two steals.

Steven Moore led UALR with 19 points, while Shane Edwards and Matt Mouzy scored 13 each.

ORU shot 41.8 percent from the field, but was only 3-of-16 from 3-point range. The Golden Eagles did shoot 68 percent (17-25) from the line and turned it over just 11 times.

The Trojans out-rebounded ORU 37-34 and shot 45.3 percent from the field, including 75 percent (9-12) from 3-point range. The Trojans entered the game shooting 32 percent from lone range.

The Golden Eagles take a short break before taking on arguably the toughest opponent in program history when they visit No. 1-ranked North Carolina, 5 p.m., Saturday in Chapel Hill. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

--ORU--