No sweat for Bears vs. Lions
SOUTHLAND MEN CENTRAL ARKANSAS 88, SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 68
CONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas men’s basketball team shook off a slow start and outscored Southeastern Louisiana by 18 in the second half to coast to a 88-68 victory Wednesday night at the Farris Center.
After dropping three consecutive games to fall below .500 in the Southland Conference standings, Wednesday was every bit of a must-win game for the Bears to keep pace in the league.
UCA (6-15, 5-5 Southland) had lost by a combined nine points over the last two weeks to Stephen F. Austin, Nicholls State and Abilene Christian — the top three teams in the league standings.
“The guys have been working really hard, and we’ve been playing good basketball and the results haven’t been there the last few games,” said UCA interim coach Anthony Boone, who’s now 5-7 since former coach Russ Pennell’s exit. “It was really good to see the guys get rewarded for all the hard work they’ve been doing.”
Junior guard Rylan Bergersen finished with a gamehigh 20 points; junior center Hayden Koval notched a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds; junior forward Jared Chatham
had 14 points; and junior point guard DeAndre Jones tallied 10 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.
Chatham had started the past 10 games for UCA, but he entered averaging just 4.2 points over the past five games. Boone brought him off the bench against the Lions, starting sophomore forward Eddy Kayouloud instead, and the plan paid off. Chatham scored eight points over the final 8:24 of the game to help the Bears separate.
“Jared was a huge part — I think one of the most important parts — of us being able to pull away in the second half,” Boone said. “We’ve been challenging him, and he came out and responded really well tonight.”
Boone and his coaches felt they had plenty of others who needed to be challenged in the middle of the first half after the Bears’ lethargic start.
After a wide-open jumper by Southeastern Louisiana forward Pape Diop, Boone called a 30-second timeout at the 10:07 mark. UCA assistant coach Matt Scherbenske stormed out of his seat and screamed repeatedly, “Wake up,” as the Bears headed to the bench. At that point, Southeastern Louisiana led 22-15.
“Energy was low,” Bergersen said. “[Coach] was just telling us, ‘This isn’t us, this isn’t us.’ ”
Guard Byron Smith scored a minute later to extend the Lions’ lead to nine, but UCA began its surge thanks to back-to-back buckets by Chatham. Later in the half, Bergersen drilled a three from the corner to put UCA in front 33-32 with 2:39 left before the break.
The Bears closed the final nine minutes of the half on a 25-14 run to take a 40-38 halftime lead. Their second-half romp on the offensive end allowed them to pull away.
UCA had a 56-47 lead after Jones and sophomore forward SK Shittu connected on an alley-oop at the 14-minute mark, but Southeastern Lou- isiana whittled the deficit to five with just under 10 minutes remaining.
Chatham threw down a wide-open dunk with 6:12 left that gave UCA a 70-60 lead, and Southeastern Louisiana trailed by double digits for the rest of the game.
UCA outscored the Lions 48-30 in the second half. The Bears’ 20-point victory is tied for their largest margin of victory this season.
“This time of year, late January going into early February, everyone in the country is tired,” Boone said. “Everybody’s feeling sluggish. We have to learn to grow up and fight through that, and the guys responded really well in the second half in doing just that.”
Diop led Southeastern Louisiana (6-15, 3-7) with 13 points, and guard Von Julien added 12.
SOUTHLAND WOMEN SE LOUISIANA 63, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 42
Southeastern Louisiana outscored the University of Central Arkansas 36-15 in the second half to turn a 27-27 halftime tie into an easy victory in Hammond, La.
The Lady Lions (8-11, 5-5 Southland Conference) used a 12-3 run at the beginning of the second half to take a 39-30 lead with 4:22 left in the third quarter after Celica Sterling hit a three-pointer. The Sugar Bears (8-11, 4-6) cut the lead to 41-36 with 1:41 left in the quarter after Ayanna Trigg hit a jumper, but trailed 43-36 going into the fourth quarter.
Southeastern Louisiana opened the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run, capped by another three-pointer from Sterling, to take a 51-36 lead with 6:37 remaining. Alana Canady hit a jumper to end the run and make it 51-38, but UCA would get no closer.
Central Arkansas shot 31.8% (14 of 44) from the floor, including 3-of15 shooting from the three-point line, while making 61.1% (11 of 18) from the free-throw line. UCA outrebounded Southeastern Louisiana 36-30, but committed 18 turnovers, which the Lady Lions converted into 20 points. Southeastern Louisiana outscored Central Arkansas 28-14 in the lane and 13-0 in fast-break points.
Sterling finished with a game-high 19 points to lead the Lady Lions, while Caitlyn Williams had 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Canady led the Sugar Bears with 10 points.
“Jared was a huge part — I think one of the most important parts — of us being able to pull away in the second half. We’ve been challenging him, and he came out and responded really well tonight.” UCA interim coach Anthony Boone on junior forward Jared Chatham