Pennell excited Bears found way to tourney

UCA men vs. Texas A&M-CC

Weeks ago, the University of Central Arkansas’ men’s basketball team was in real trouble.

The Bears lost seven games in a row from Jan. 26 to Feb. 23. Unless UCA (13-18, 8-10) had some sort of awakening, the postseason looked improbable.

UCA won three of its last four regular-season games, including a win-and-you’rein 70-63 victory Saturday at Northwestern State, which sent UCA to the Southland Conference Tournament in Katy, Texas, and knocked the Demons out.

“Three years in a row you get to go to Katy,” UCA Coach Russ Pennell said after Saturday’s victory. “And this one is really sweet because we were dead in the water a couple of weeks ago. But they just didn’t give in and they just kept battling.”

The Bears earned the No. 7 seed in the Southland Tournament and will take on No. 6 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (14-17, 9-9) at 7:30 p.m. today at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. The winner of UCA and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi will face No. 3 seed Southeastern Louisiana at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

“Everyone is 0-0,” Pennell said.

It has been more than two months since the Bears and Texas-A&M-Corpus Christi met. To open Southland play, the Islanders defeated the Bears 87-75 on Jan. 2 at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.

“It’s been a while since we’ve played them,” Pennell said. “I think we’re both better teams now than we were then.”

Pennell remembered the first half against the Islanders. UCA fell into a 42-34 hole at halftime and trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half.

UCA put together a 41-point second half, and tied the game with 8:19 remaining.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi shot 23 more free throws than the Bears, and went 27 for 35 from the free-throw line. UCA made 15 of 31 three-pointers, which was the most UCA made in a single game this season.

The Islanders finished the regular season winning their final three games.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, which is 7-1 vs. UCA in the past eight games, and UCA have never met in the Southland Tournament.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/MITCHELL PE MASILUN Coach Russ Pennell (above) and the University of Central Arkansas men’s basketball team will begin play in their third consecutive Southland Conference Tournament today when they take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Katy, Texas. “And this one is really sweet because we were dead in the water a couple of weeks ago,” Pennell said. “But they just didn’t give in and they just kept battling.”