UCA shakes Morehead St.

CENTRAL ARKANSAS 82, MOREHEAD STATE 78

Mathieu Kamba scored 20 points and grabbed 8 rebounds as the University of Central Arkansas took a tight game over Morehead State 82-78 on Monday night at the Farris Center in Conway.

With the Bears (4-3) up 7674, Kamba converted a fastbreak layup for a four-point lead over the Eagles (1-4) with 2:14 remaining.

Jordan Walker’s basket for Morehead State cut the lead to 78-76 with 1:19 left, but Deandre Jones nailed a three-pointer on the next possession to give the Bears the cushion they needed.

The game was tied 50-50 when Morehead State embarked on a 14-6 run. Maleek Green scored six points during the stretch for Morehead State, and Walker capped the surge with a layup for a 64-56 lead with 9:14 left in the game.

Jordan Howard responded with a three-pointer to cut the lead to 64-59, and Thatch Unruh’s three-pointer made it 66-64 Morehead State with 7:03 left. Unruh hit another three-pointer less than a minute later to give the Bears a lead they would not relinquish.

Jones scored 16 points on 5 of 7 from three-point range for the Bears. Howard also scored 16, but he was just 4 of 16 from the floor and 2 of 11 from three-point range. Nine different Bears scored.

Green and Walker led five different Morehead State players in double figures with 16 apiece.