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Bears close with win and winning season

ASN — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 20:08:30 +0000

UCA Athletics
Steve East, Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations

ABILENE, Texas – It wasn’t a thing of beauty but the result was pretty darn good looking to the University of Central Arkansas Bears on the final Saturday afternoon of the 2018 season.

A hard-fought 16-7 Southland Conference road victory over the Abilene Christian Wildcats secured a winning season for the Bears (6-5) in head coach Nathan Brown’s debut season. The UCA defense dominated on a defensive kind of day at a windy Wildcat Stadium, allowing just 73 yards and zero points in the second half. A late interception by sophomore Robert Rochell _ his second of the day _ sealed the victory and sent 17 UCA seniors out on a winning note in their final game.

The victory was also UCA’s 100th since moving to the NCAA FCS level in 2006.

“I’ve been saying all along, we really do have a good team,’ said Brown, who took over the UCA program after four years as offensive coordinator. “Our guys fought their hearts out to win a game like this. You saw a team playing for UCA pride. And I said it all week, those teams that play like that are scary.’

The Bears, after falling behind 7-3 with 13:06 left in the second quarter, dominated on the defensive side. ACU’s final 10 possessions of the game produced eight punts, a fumble and an interception.

UCA trailed until the 5:48 mark of the third quarter when senior Matt Cummins connected on his third field goal of the day, a 42-yarder, good for a 9-7 UCA lead. Needing a big play or two to run time off the clock, UCA got a 21-yard pass to sophomore tight end Jack Short, down to the ACU 18 with under 5:00 minutes remaining. Three consecutive runs by junior running back Carlos Blackman moved it to the 2 before Hales found Short with touchdown pass in the right corner of the end zone that survived an official’s review and gave UCA the cushion (16-7) it needed.

The Bears’ defense did the rest, stopping the Wildcats at midfield with Rochell’s second pick of the day and team-high fourth of the season to seal it.

“I thought we played a pretty complete game, no turnovers on offense and we turned them over,’ said Brown. “And good things happened for us.’

The first half – including a scoreless first quarter – was a combination of defense, punts and field goals. UCA struck first with a 20-yarder field goal by Cummins with 14:11 left in the second quarter. ACU answered with its only scoring drive of the day, capped by a 36-yard touchdown pass from Luke Anthony to D.J. Fuller, good for a 7-3 lead with 13:06 left in the half.

Cummins, a senior from Conway, connected again from 37 yards to get the Bears within 7-6 at halftime. UCA had just 119 yards of total offense in the opening half, but ACU was not much better with 158 total and just 11 rushing yards on 14 attempts. The Bears eventually finished with 292 total yards on 79 plays, compared to just 231 on 55 plays for the Wildcats. UCA dominated the time of possession, 37:36 to 22:24. UCA controlled the ball for 20:37 in the decisive second half.

“Our defense was outstanding and gave us that opportunity to punch it in there at the end and that was huge,” Brown said.

Blackman led all rushers with 85 yards on 13 carries (6.5 per carry), while Hales completed 23 of 41 passes for 183 yards and a touchdown. Seniors Jakari Dillard and Cedric Battle led UCA receivers with five receptions each, while Short caught a career-high four passes, including the final touchdown, the second of his career.

Jackie Harvell, a sophomore safety, led UCA’s solid defensive effort with seven tackles, two for lost yards and a sack and forced fumble. Joe Hampton and Jaylin Small both recovered muffed punts by ACU, while junior linebacker Roy Sutton and senior tackle Eric Jackaon recorded UCA’s other two sacks. UCA junior punter Taylor Wallace was a key factor all afternoon, averaging 44.3 yards on seven punts, with a long of 56 yards and four inside the 20 yard line.

UCA finishes the year 6-5 overall and 5-4 in SLC play.

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Early deficit too much for Bears in loss

ASN — Sun, 04 Nov 2018 03:37:59 +0000

UCA Athletics
Steve East, Associate Athletic Director

CONWAY – The University of Central Arkansas Bears dug themselves a three-score deficit against the hottest team in the Southland Conference and could not come back Saturday night in a 38-24 loss to the Lamar Cardinals at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.

The 19th ranked Bears (5-4, 4-3) lost their first Homecoming game since 2002 and fell to the Cardinals for the first time in eight meetings, also missing out on a chance to move back into a first-place tie in the conference. First-place McNeese State, which had a one-game lead on UCA and three other teams heading into Saturday, lost 23-6 to Southeastern Louisiana. Lamar (5-4, 4-3) won its fourth straight game after an 0-3 start in the SLC.

The Cardinals scored on the second play of the game on a 28-yard pass from Jordan Hoy to Mason Sikes, set up by a 47-yard run on the first play, for a quick 7-0 lead just 21 seconds into the game. UCA responded with a 7-play, 70-yard drive that took just 2:43, ending in a 23-yard touchdown pass from redshirt freshman Luke Hales to senior Lester Wells to tie it at 7-7.

From there, the Bears traded field goals for touchdowns the rest of the first half, resulting in a 35-16 halftime deficit. Lamar scored four times before halftime, all touchdowns, while UCA got field goals of 24, 32 and 36 yards from senior Matt Cummins. The Cardinals finished the first half with 427 yards of total offense, averaging 10.4 yards per play. Lamar had four pass plays of at least 25 yards and two runs of at least 20 yards. Hoy completed 12 of 18 for 285 yards and four touchdowns in the opening half.

The Bears got 115 rushing yards from sophomore Kierre Crossley on just seven carries in the opening 30 minutes, but Hales was just 5 of 19 passing for 91 yards before halftime.

The second half was more of a defensive battle, with UCA holding Lamar to just 85 total yards and a 27-yard Elvin Martinez field goal. However, the Bears’ offense never got untracked, despite a gift turnover at the Lamar 15 with 10:50 left to play. Junior defensive end Chris Terrell sacked and stripped Hoy and senior tackle Eric Jackson fell on the ball at the 15. But the Bears fumbled on the first play and gave the ball back to the Cardinals at the 20.

The Bears got a 2-yard touchdown pass from junior running back Carlos Blackman to junior tight end Luke Ross on a direct snap play with 11:36 remaining to cut the margin to 38-24 just before the Lamar fumble. From there, UCA turned the ball over on downs on three consecutive possessions down the stretch. The Bears got into Cardinal territory one final time when Hales hit Brandon Myers for 30 yards on first down. But an offensive pass interference call against UCA and a sack ended the threat with 2:22 left to play.

UCA finished with a respectable 435 yards of total offense, including 176 on the ground. Crossley had 115 yards, his second 100-yard rushing effort of the season, while junior Carlos Blackman had 70 on 12 carries and also threw his first career touchdown pass. Defensively, Terrell finished with seven tackles including two sacks and another tackle for loss and a forced fumble to earn the L.B. Jackman Award that goes to the outstanding player in the Homecoming game.

Sophomore Jackie Harvell had 8 tackles and 3 tackles for loss, while Raphael Garner and Reggio Dean added 8 tackles each and Michael Ware had 4 tackles and two for loss.

Senior Jakari Dillard caught four passes for 83 yards for the Bears and Wells added three catches for 44 yards and a touchdown.

UCA continues its homestand next Saturday, hosting another red-hot team in Incarnate Word at 3 p.m. at Estes Stadium. UIW beat Sam Houston State 43-26 on Saturday and is now tied for first with McNeese State and Nicholls State at 5-2. The Bears, now in a four-way tie for fourth place, close the season at Abilene Christian on Nov. 17.

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UCA charges to title at Little Rock Golf Classic

ASN — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 00:43:56 +0000

UCA Athletics
Steve East, Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations

HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE, Ark. – The University of Central Arkansas women’s golf team fired a final-round 291 on Tuesday to grab the title at the Little Rock Women’s Golf Classic played at Diamante Country Club.

UCA, which had the lowest round of the day by six strokes, vaulted from sixth place to the championship, its second in four years at the tournament, and fourth consecutive Top 2 finish at the tourney.

Senior Emma Svensson, the medalist at the 2015 tournament, was the catalyst, shooting a 4-under 68 on Tuesday to finish fifth overall (73-78-68_219). Svensson, from Halmstad, Sweden, had six birdies and two bogeys on the day.

Freshman Tania Nunez tied for 13th place with rounds of 79-74-71_224, while freshman Elin Kumlin tied for 16th (76-77-74_227). Freshman Karley Whittington shot 75-74-80_229 and tied for 23rd, while senior Sally Fridstrom shot 80-79-78_237 and tied for 55th. Freshman Gracen Blount shot 74-82-81_237 and also tied for 55th.

Missouri State finished second at 900, followed by UTEP (902), Western Kentucky (904), Lamar (907), South Alabama (909), Utah Valley (913), UMKC (920), Little Rock (925), Houston Baptist (925), ULM (927), Northern Iowa (931), UT Arlington (933), Arkansas State (943), Stephen F. Austin (956) and McNeese State (975).

By finishing ahead of Little Rock, UCA picked up two points in the “Governor’s I-40 Showdown” and now leads the year-long competition 14.5 to 3.5.

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Late home runs carry Bears past Trojans

ASN — Wed, 16 May 2018 04:17:37 +0000

UCA Athletics
Steve East, Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations

NORTH LITTLE ROCK – The University of Central Arkansas Bears rallied with a pair of home runs in the eighth inning to down the Little Rock Trojans 6-4 on Tuesday night at Dickey-Stephens Park in their final in-state game of the season.

Junior catcher William Hancock hit a long two-run blast to right field, followed four pitches later by a solo shot down the left-field line by senior shortstop Josh Somdecerff, good for a two-run UCA lead. A combination of relievers Ross Rogers and Conner Williams then shut down the Trojans in the final two innings.

Freshman right hander Gavin Stone (2-2) went seven innings, allowing 7 hits, 3 earned runs and striking out 5. The Bears (32-20) evened the annual “Rock N Roar Rivalry” series with the Trojans (26-24). Little Rock used nine pitchers, with Nick Perez (2-2) taking the loss, allowing all four runs in the eighth inning.

After the Trojans took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on an RBI single by right fielder Chase Coker, UCA came back with two runs in the fifth. Senior shortstop Josh Somdecerff doubled, moved to third on T.J. Black’s bunt single and came in to score on Keaton Presley’s sacrifice fly. Junior left fielder Hunter Strong followed with a double to right field to give the Bears a 2-1 lead.

The Trojans got the run back on a walk, consecutive sacrifice bunts and a fielding error in the bottom of the inning, then added two more in the sixth on an RBI triple by Perez _ playing third base at the time _ and a wild pitch by Stone.

The Bears then put together a four-run inning in the eighth, all against Perez and all with two outs. Senior Rigo Aguilar singled up the middle and eventually scored on Eddy Sanchez’ sacrifice fly to center field. Hancock then hammered his fifth home run of the season deep to right field to give the Bears a 5-4 lead. Somdecerff then went the other way for his team-high eighth of the season.

Rogers, a sophomore from Fordyce, struck out two in the eighth before giving way to Williams, who got the final out of the inning, also with a strikeout. In the ninth, Williams worked around a two-out single and struck out Coker looking for the final out.

Somdercerff finished 3 for 4 with two runs scored, while Aguilar was 2 for 3. Marcus Ragan led the Trojans, going 3 for 4.

The Bears return to Southland Conference action on Thursday night, taking on the Nicholls Colonels in Thibadaux, La. Game times are 6 p.m. Thursday, 6 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday.

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UCA sits second at SLC women’s championship

ASN — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 02:48:26 +0000

UCA Sports
Steve East, Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations

MONTGOMERY, Texas – The top-seeded University of Central Arkansas women’s golf team sits in second place after Round 1 of the 2018 Southland Conference Championship being played at Woodforest Golf Club.

UCA shot 299 and is two shots behind Houston Baptist and six shots ahead of third-place Sam Houston State. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is fourth at 306, followed by McNeese State (308), Lamar (311), Incarnate Word (314) and Stephen F. Austin (318).

UCA freshman Geraldine Wong is in second place overall after opening with a 1-over 72. Wong had an eagle on No. 6 to go with three bogeys for her 72. She trails HBU’s Alisa Chong by a stroke and is one stroke in front of HBU’s Kaity Cummings.

UCA senior Fernanda Lira and junior Emma Svensson are tied for seventh place with 4-over 75s, while freshman Tasha Ainsley-Thomas is tied for 14th (77) and freshman Brett Permann is tied for 28th (80).

The second round is set for Tuesday morning, with the tournament wrapping up on Wednesday morning. UCA is a three-time runner-up at the SLC Championship.

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Gray, Bears sweep Skyhawks in doubleheader

ASN — Sun, 15 Apr 2018 05:31:21 +0000

UCA Spors
Steve East, Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations

CONWAY – The University of Central Arkansas Bears got a complete-game shutout from senior Tyler Gray and home runs by seniors Josh Somdecerff and Keaton Presley to sweep a non-conference doubleheader from the UT Martin Skyhawks on Saturday at Bear Stadium.

The Bears scored seven runs in the third inning and Somdecerff hit his sixth home run of the season to lead the Bears to a 10-4 victory in the opening game. Gray then dominated Game 2, striking out 12 and allowing just three hits in a complete-game 3-0 shutout.

Gray moved into second place in career strikeouts at UCA with 249, trailing only Matt Whitaker’s 269. Presley got the only hit the Bears (21-13) would need in the first inning, with a three-run blast off the scoreboard in left field, also his sixth of the season. UCA finished with just seven hits off a pair of UT Martin pitchers, with Presley the only Bear with multiple hits.

In the opener, the Bears also scored in the first inning when junior left fielder Hunter Strong doubled to right center to lead off the inning and scored on Presley’s triple down the right field line when the UTM right fielder slipped on the wet grass. UCA then put up seven runs in the third on just three hits, taking advantage of two UTM errors, two wild pitches, a passed ball and two hit by pitch. One of those hits was Somdecerff’s leadoff home run, a line drive to left field. Coby Potvin added a two-run double as UCA went up 8-1.

After the Skyhawks got a run in the top of the seventh, UCA responded with two more runs in the bottom of the inning. Rigo Aguilar singled up the middle and William Hancock doubled to right field. Dusty Wright’s two-run single pushed UCA’s lead to 10-1. The Skyhawks, who ended up with 12 hits like the Bears, scored a single run in the eighth and two more in the ninth but junior Conner Williams got the final three outs to end it.

Somdecerff, Aguilar, Potvin and T.J. Black had two hits each, with Potvin and Wright picking up two RBI apiece. Junior Tanner Wiley (3-1) got the victory, going 6 2/3 innings, allowing just one run and striking out four.

The series finale is set for 1 p.m. Sunday at Bear Stadium.

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Howard to play in Final Four All-Star Game

ASN — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 03:14:25 +0000

UCA Sports
Steve East, Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The most decorated men’s basketball player in University of Central Arkansas history will get to represent the Purple and Gray one more time at the NABC Reese’s College All-Star Game on Friday in conjunction with the NCAA Final Four.

UCA graduate Jordan Howard was one of 20 players named to the All-Star teams and will compete at 3:35 p.m. Friday at the Alamodome on CBS Sports Network.

Howard, the career scoring leader at UCA and in Arkansas Division I history, will pay for the East All-Stars, coached by Yale University head coach James Jones. His brother Joe Jones from Boston University will coach the West team. Howard is joined on the team by players from Creighton, Clemson, UCLA, TCU, Bucknell, Davidson, Colorado, Winthrop and St. Bonaventure.

Howard, the Southland Conference Player of the Year for 2017-18, is the career three-point leader in the SLC, at UCA and in Arkansas Division I with 384 career three-pointers. He set UCA records for career points (2,524), career free throws (558) and free-throw percentage (86.8), season three-pointers (113) and season points (880).

Howard scored in double figures in 120 of his 124 career games at UCA and made at least one three-pointer in 120 of 124 games. He led the SLC in scoring this season at 25.1 points per game led the nation in total points scored at 880. Howard was the active career scoring leader in the NCAA and was second in three-pointers.

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Bears complete baseball sweep of Privateers

ASN — Sun, 25 Mar 2018 23:11:48 +0000

UCA Sports
Steve East, Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations

NEW ORLEANS, La. – Junior righthander Cody Davenport carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning Sunday to lead the University of Central Arkansas to a 5-3 victory over the New Orleans Privateers to complete the Southland Conference sweep at Maestri Field.

Davenport (2-1) settled for a complete-game four-hitter, striking out seven and and walking two in the fourth complete game of his career. The Bears made the most of their six hits, with seniors Rigo Aguilar and Josh Somdecerff coming up with two RBI each, including Somdeceff’s second home run in as many days, a two-run shot in the fifth inning that gave UCA a 5-1 lead.

The series sweep was UCA’s second consecutive after going 3-0 against Incarnate Word last weekend at Bear Stadium.

The Bears (15-9, 7-2) broke out with three runs in the fourth inning, starting with junior left fielder Hunter Strong reaching on an error and advancing to second on another miscue and to third on a wild pitch. Somdecerff was hit by a pitch and Tyler Smith walked before designated hitter Colby LeBlacn singled in Strong. Aguilar then doubled down the right-field line to make it 3-0.

After UNO scored once in the bottom of the fourth without the benefit of a hit, UCA added two more in the fifth on Somdecerff’s two-run shot to left field that scored Strong, who had reached base on anpther error. The Privateers (9-15, 2-7) finally got their first hit with two outs in the seventh when Beau Bratton blooped one to center field. Davenport worked around that with a ground ball to end the inning.

UCA’s six hits were spread among the top six batters in the lineup, with Strong and Somdecerff scoring two runs apiece. Cody Ducote had two of UNO’s four hits, including a solo home run in the eighth inning.

The game, with a combined 10 hits, took just 2 hours and 10 minutes. Davenport finished with just 114 pitches. UNO used four pitchers, with starter Kyle Arjona (2-2) taking the loss.

The Bears are scheduled to host Wichita State at 6 p.m. Tuesday, weather permitting. UCA, in second place in the standings, returns to SLC action on Thursday, hosting Northwestern State at Bear Stadium in a three-game series moved up because of Easter Sunday.

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Bears complete sweep with two Saturday wins

ASN — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 04:23:44 +0000

UCA Sports
Steve East, Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations

CONWAY – The University of Central Arkansas Bears got an RBI single by senior Rigo Aguilar in the eighth inning to earn a 6-5 victory over Incarnate Word on Saturday night and sweep the Cardinals 3-0 in Southland Conference action at Bear Stadium.

UCA took the opener of the doubleheader 8-3 behind a 3-for-3 performance from Aguilar, a senior third baseman.

UCA (12-8, 4-2) improved to 5-0 on its current homestand and won its ninth straight home game and its 10th of the past 11 at Bear Stadium. UIW dropped to 13-9 and 3-3 after Saturday’s two losses.

The Bears led 5-1 through seven innings of Game 2, riding the arm of junior starter Cody Davenport, who went 7 1/3 innings, allowing nine hits and just one earned run while striking out five. But the Cardinals, who swept Abilene Christian last weekend, put up four runs in the eighth inning to tie it at 5-5.

UCA responded in the bottom of the eighth when catcher William Hancock had a one-out base hit up the middle and advanced to second base on a throwing error by UIW pitcher Jenner Jackson on a pickoff attempt. Senior Michael Haun came in to pinch run for Hancock and scored the game-winning run when Rigo Aguilar singled up the middle.

The Cardinals got their first batter on base in the top of the ninth against UCA closer Mark Moyer but he struck out Kyle Bergeron and catcher Justin McCarty threw out Eddie Gonzalez attemping to steal second on the same play. Moyer then struck out designated hitter Lee Thomas to earn the victory and improve to 4-2 on the season.

Senior center fielder Keaton Presley hit a pair of doubles, including a two-run double in the fifth, and finished 3 for 4 with 3 RBI. Josh Somdecerff went 2 for 4 with 2 run scored as UCA finished with 12 hits.

In the opener, the Bears broke open a 4-3 game with a four-run seventh inning to back the start of junior Tanner Wiley (1-0), who went 6 1/3 innings, allowing just two earned runs. Junior Tyler Smith and senior center fielder Keaton Presley both had two hits and two RBI, with Presley hitting his team-high fourth home run in the sixth inning.

In the seventh, UCA got a leadoff single by Aguilar and a UIW error on T.J. Black’s ground ball put runners at first and second with no outs. Hunter Strong’s sacrifice bunt was thrown away by the UIW pitcher, allowing Aguilar to score the first run. Smith added a two-run single to left center to make it 7-3 before Presley doubled in the final run.

Sophomore Ross Rogers got his first save, pitching the final 2 2/3 innings, striking out two and allowing just one hit.

UCA hosts Big 12 Oklahoma State at 6 p.m. Tuesday before hitting the road next weekend for an SLC series at New Orleans.

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Bears win first SLC Tournament game with lockdown defense

ASN — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 04:58:26 +0000

UCA Sports
Steve East, Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations

KATY, Texas – A lock-down defensive effort down the stretch gave the University of Central Arkansas Bears their first Southland Conference Tournament victory on Wednesday night and let them play another day at the Merrell Center.

The seventh-seeded Bears held the sixth-seeded Lamar Cardinals to just seven points over the final 11:41 of the game to win going away 67-57 in first-round action. UCA, which fell behind by as much as nine points early in the second half, outscored Lamar 22-7 from that point to advance to Thursday’s second round against No. 3 seed Stephen F. Austin at 7:30 p.m.

“Really proud of the effort and proud of our win and the fact that we get a chance to play again tomorrow,’ said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. “It feels good. I was real excited for our guys. That was a big goal that they had this year, to make the tournament and then at least win a game. The thing I like, they were celebrating in there, but they keep saying three more, three more. And I like that. I love that enthusiasm.’

Surprisingly, the Bears earned it on the defensive end after besting the Cardinals 100-91 in double overtime in their first meeting this season in Beaumont, Texas. UCA held Lamar to just 37.1 percent shooting from the field and just 15.4 percent (4 of 26) from three-point range. In the two games this season against the Bears, Lamar has shot 8 of 57 (14 percent) from beyond the arc.

“I think it was the type of game that maybe we needed, it was just a gut-check,’ said Pennell, who brought his team to the SLC Tournament for the second consecutive year, a first for UCA’s men’s program. “We got down and we took a time out and and I grabbed Mathieu Kamba and I said ‘You’re a senior and your career is about to end. You need to do something. And from that point on, he was light’s out.

“I was really happy with that, for (seniors) Jordan, Mathieu and Ethan, that was such a big win. I thought our guys showed what I’ve been seeing all year, kind of the change in our program. And that is some grit and toughness. I thought when we got down eight, we took the time out and you could see they weren’t ready to go home yet. And that was probably the thing that was most encouraging to me.’

UCA senior Jordan Howard, named the SLC Player of the Year on Monday, finished with a game-high 26 points, going 9 of 10 from the free-throw line, including 6 of 6 in the final 47 seconds. Freshman Matthew Mondesir finished with 12 points, while Kamba and junior Thatch Unruh had 11 each. But more importantly, a combination of Mondesir, Kamba and senior Ethan Lee held Lamar’s first-team All-SLC forward Colton Weisbrod to just five points after he scored a career-high 38 in the first meeting. He made 16 free throws in the first game and one on Wednesday.

“That was an interesting game from our perspective,” Pennell said. “Because as we build this program, you have to go through different steps. Last year when we were here, I thought we were just glad to be here. And I even felt yesterday in practice that there was a different feel about our team, because these guys, especially Mathieu and Jordan and Ethan, who have been here before, they fully intended on coming down here and winning this first game.

“I saw that determination and I saw that grit. And I thought really the details of that was, our defense was really good. I thought the defense and the rebounding is what helped us, and we had some timely buckets. And obviously when we can get Jordan to the free-throw line, that’s almost as good as automatic every time.’

The Bears, outscored 17-6 to start the second half, fought their way back into the game with two baskets by Unruh, layups by Kamba and Mondesir and a jumper by Howard that tied it at 50 at the 10-minute mark. From there, it was all UCA, with the Bears getting a key three-pointer and a rebound basket from 7-foot freshman center Hayden Koval in a span of 1:30. Over the final 1:25, Kamba put in a rebound basket and Howard nailed six free throws in a row to end it.

“When we got down nine and took the time out, I got on them a little bit,’ said Pennell. “But I challenged them more that you’re letting an opportunity slip through your hands. And I knew it wasn’t anything more than effort. It wasn’t like their schemes or our lack of schemes. It was just we had to give a little bit more effort.

“So for us to do that, and win it on that (defensive) end of the floor, was really, really phenomenal.’

UCA and SFA split the two regular-season meetings, with the Bears winning 100-92 in Conway on Jan. 24 and the Lumberjacks getting a 97-62 win on their home floor on Feb. 21. The winner of that quarterfinal game takes on No. 2 seed Nicholls State at 7:30 Friday in the semifinals. The SLC championship game is set for 8 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2.

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