Central Arkansas closes strong, edges past Nicholls 74-69

CONWAY, Ark. (AP) — Hayden Koval scored 20 points, pulled down eight rebounds and blocked six shots as Central Arkansas pushed its win streak to three games with a 74-68 defeat of Nicholls State on Saturday.

Eddy Kayouloud added 16 points for the Bears (9-10, 4-2 Southland), who fended off Nicholls in the last four minutes.

The Colonels (10-9, 3-3) saw back-to-back 3-pointers by Elvis Harvey forge a 63-63 tie with 3:41 remaining. DeAndre Jones scored five of his six points in the final stretch, going 3 of 4 at the line with a layup. His basket started an 11-5 finishing run for the Bears, who made four of their last five shots, including a dunk by Matthew Mondesir.

Gavin Peppers scored a career-high 26 points for Nicholls, Jeremiah Jefferson added 14 and Harvey 12 on four 3-pointers.

Neither team led by more than seven in a battle that saw nine ties and eight lead changes.