Clarksville, Ark.-Habeeb Kareem's jumper with 2.6 seconds left propelled the Eagles to a 71-69 American Southwest Conference win over Louisiana College on Saturday.
Kareem’s shot came after Louisiana College’s Josh Johnson tied the game 69-69 when he scored a bucket with 25 seconds left. Prior to Johnson’s shot, Kareem nailed another clutch jumper with 56 seconds left to give Ozarks (8-8, 5-7) a 69-67 advantage, but it was Kareem’s 18-foot shot that was the biggest. In an odd turn of events to end the game, the Wildcats (5-11, 4-8) ensuing inbounds pass hit the scoreboard, giving the Eagles the ball back. But Ozarks turned it over and a Wildcat half court shot rimmed out as the buzzer sounded.
The Eagles shot a solid 54 percent from the field in the first half to help them hold a 41-30 halftime lead. Kareem, Clint McHenry and Chris Williams combined for 31 of their 41 first half points. The trio shot 15-of-21 from the floor in the first twenty minutes.
Ozarks biggest lead of the second half came at the 14:38 mark when McHenry made a shot to put the Eagles up 48-37, but the Wildcats cut it to 56-55 with 8:26 left. Louisiana College eventually took a 62-60 advantage with 4:08 remaining, but the Eagles went up 67-64 when McHenry hit a shot two minutes later.
Kareem finished with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field. McHenry had a career-high 18 points. Chris Williams added 10 points. Both Kareem and McHenry had 7 rebounds.
Ozarks will travel to UT-Tyler on January 31 and then go to UT-Dallas on February 4.
Topics: Athletics