Pine Bluff, leading by 14 with 5:15 left, beat the Conway defense just enough and hit just enough free throws down the stretch to defeat the Wampus Cats, 79-74, in overtime Friday night in the semifinals of the Bank of the Ozarks John Stanton Wampus Cat Invitational.
Tim Boyd's baseline drive capped a furious Conway rally in the final minutes of regulation to tie the score at 61 and force the overtime. The Zebras pulled away on a layup by Teddy Payne and four straight free throws.
Pine Bluff will play Jacksonville, which defeated Bryant in an earlier game, at 8:30 p.m. Saturday in the championship. The Wampus Cats will play Bryant for third place at 5:30 p.m.
Post Justin Leon scored 30 points for the Cats. Boyd added 20 and Adrian Moore 14.
Ricky Clements scored 30 for Pine Bluff.
Further details of the game will be in Sunday's print edition of the Log Cabin Democrat.