Bears close out narrow win over Little Rock

CONWAY, Ark. — Central Arkansas figured out how to win a close one Thursday night, doing all the little things down the stretch that resulted in a big 75-71 win over their in-state rival Little Rock Trojans at the Farris Center in the only meeting of the “Governor’s I-40 Showdown” this season.

UCA outscored the Trojans 5-1 over the final minute to exorcise some late-game demons from the opening month of the season. UCA had previously lost five games by five points or less, but found the winning formula Thursday. The Bears got 18 points from graduate Daniel Sofield, including four three-pointers, and connected on 20 of 22 at the free-throw line.

Three of those free throws came in the final minute, with freshman Javion Guy-King making a pair with 15.5 seconds left to give the Bears a 74-70 cushion. Little Rock’s DeAntoni Gordon could only make the first of two free throw attempts and UCA sophomore Glory Etim ripped down the rebound and was fouled with 1.7 remaining. He made one of two at the line to seal the victory.

“We’ve had a lot of close ones that come down the last couple of possessions,” said UCA head coach Anthony Boone, “and we’ve come out on the other end on all those. But I do believe our guys have been learning through all those situations. And tonight was really big, and really needed for our guys to experience coming out on top.

“I think we’ve just learned to not be too rattled, not go too fast. I think one of the big things is (point guard) Yoyo (Johannes Kirsipuu) has been steadily getting better, and Javion is continuing to get experience. And he’s slowed down a little bit as well. When we got into the situations where we needed to make plays on both ends of the floor, those two things were the big differences.”

UCA finished with three players in double figures, with freshman Tucker Anderson adding 13 points and senior Masai Olowokere 10. Guy-King and Kirsipuu were both 4 of 4 at the free-throw line, while Etim and Elias Cato both made 3 of 4.

“He (Sofield) started off slow but he was taking good shots and we stayed positive and his teammates were great at encouraging him and telling him to keep taking those shots,” said Boone. “And he did and they were falling for him. And that’s exactly why we brought him here, so he could do just that.”

The Bears (2-10) led for most of the first half but the Trojans (4-5) closed the half with a 12-3 run to grab a 31-30 lead at the break. UCA, battling foul trouble with both Cato and Anderson, fell behind by as much as nine points at 52-43 before putting together a 9-0 run, started by a three-pointer from Anderson and capped by an inside basket by Etim that tied it at 52-52 with 9:21 left.

From there, the lead changed hands repeatedly, with a total of 10 lead changes for the game. Sofield hit a pair of three-pointers at the 6:15 mark and the 3:30 mark to keep the Bears in front.

“We’ve been in that situation a number of times,” said Boone of the second-half deficit. “And we’ve had success in those situations, and been able to come back and give ourselves a chance. Our guys just stayed pretty calm. Stayed intense, yes, but stayed calm and collected, and stuck with the plan. We knew we had to take one possession at a time and we wanted to get as many stops as we could, then come down and get quality looks.

“For the most part, we took care of the ball, especially against a team that is known for turning its opponents over a lot. We did a great job with just eight turnovers. A great job of taking care of the basketball against that kind of physicality and that kind of pressure.”

UCA shot 42.1 percent from the field for the game and held Little Rock to 38.5 percent. UCA had a season-low eight turnovers and also blocked six shots, led by three from Etim. Both teams made seven threes but UCA shot 36.8 from the arc and Little Rock just 29.2 percent.

“I think our guys fed off each other at the line,” said Boone. “They saw each other making free throws and the next guy stepped up and hit free throws, and the next guy stepped up and hit them. Glory isn’t someone we’d consider an elite shooter but he made 3 of 4 and hit the one that really clinched it. Up three and he hit one where they wouldn’t have a chance to tie it. Free throws were a really big part of the win.”

Boone said the crowd of 2,730 and the atmosphere played a big part in the victory as well.

“It was an incredible environment,” he said. “Our fans were out, Little Rock’s fans were out. It was a great college basketball game and a great college basketball environment. I think another thing that helped us was we’re here at home and (injured) Cam (Hunter) is not playing but he’s here on the side doing what he does. He’s a leader for our guys and he continues to do that even though he’s not able to play.”

“He was encouraging, getting on the guys when he needed to, giving them pep talks, doing all of that before the game, during the game. And everybody did their part, whatever their role was, whether it was on the floor or on the sideline. Everybody was into it and all of it together made it happen for us.”

The Bears hit the road for a Sunday afternoon matchup at 2 p.m. with Eastern Illinois in Charleston, Ill., before taking a break for final exams next week.