Anthony Borden saved his best play for the final moments of his last home game at the Farris Center.
Borden, a 6-foot-8 senior, tipped in a shot at the buzzer in overtime to give the Bears an 86-84 victory Saturday.
Conway’s Jarvis Garner, who sent the game into overtime with a 28-foot 3-pointer under duress with .3 seconds left, missed another attempt at last-second heroics.
Robert Crawford blocked an ORU shot and UCA set up a final play with 4.6 seconds left after ORU had almost forced a five-second count, Garner took the ball on the baseline and was jostled as he missed an 8-footer. The ball was tipped high and Borden was on the spot to tap it through the net at the buzzer, setting off a joyous UCA celebration.
The Bears rallied from 11 down the second half.
Garner, a former Wampus Cat star, was 13 of 24 from the field and finished his home career with 34 points. Crawford added 18 and LaQuintin Miles, who fouled out in regulation, had 12.
Warren Niles scored 30 for ORU.
UCA (13-16, 7-11) go into this weekend’s Southland Conference tournament with momentum although the No. 7 seed. The Bears will play Nicholls State at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Oral Roberts (18-13, 13-4) will go into the tourney as the third seed.
The Golden Eagles defeated the Bears, 94-65 a couple of weeks ago in Tulsa.
(Sports columnist David McCollum can be reached at david.mccollum@thecabin.net or at 501-505-1235. To comment on this and other stories in the Log Cabin, log on to www.thecabin.net. Send us sports news at sports@thecabin.net)