Mitch Rueter scores 25 points, Central Arkansas defeats McNeese State 76-72 on Saturday

Central Arkansas beats McNeese State 76-72

LAKE CHARLES, La. — Mitch Rueter finished with 25 points to lead Central Arkansas to a 76-72 victory over McNeese State on Saturday in both teams’ regular season finale.

Both teams failed to make the eight-team Southland Conference tournament.

Jared Ehmel added 20 points for the Bears (9-21, 3-13), who snapped a five-game losing streak to close out their season. Rueter and Ehmel nailed four 3-pointers each, and Central Arkansas shot 10-for-20 from beyond the arc as a team.

The game was tied at 68 with 1:34 remaining, but two free throws from Ehmel and a layup from Tandre Sheppard put the Bears up 72-68 with 23 seconds left. Sheppard and Ehmel each made two free throws down the stretch to ice the game.

Stephan Martin led the way for the Cowboys (10-20, 5-11) with 18 points on 8 of 13 shooting. McNeese State closes their season losing three of their last four games.