Bears ‘blinked’ for first time this year in loss to Stetson

DELAND, Fla. — Central Arkansas cut a 22-point first-half deficit down to five points late Thursday but still dropped a 75-65 ASUN decision to the Stetson Hatters at the Edmunds Center.

The Hatters used a hot shooting hand to run out to a 43-21 halftime lead. Stetson shot 53.3 percent from the field and made nine three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. UCA made just 3 of 16 from beyond the arc and shot 25.0 percent overall and had its second-lowest scoring first half of the season.

Six different Hatters made a three-pointer in the first half, with Jordan Wood connecting three times. Mehki Ellison, Stetson’s leading scorer on the season, had 12 points at the half. Senior Elias Cato led the Bears with seven.

“I think the first half was the first time this year that we blinked,” said UCA head coach John Shulman. ” It was the first time this year that the offense didn’t go our way. We missed shot after shot. We got 23 more shots than they did, and we had 23 offensive rebounds. The stats don’t even equal up.

“We played our guts out, and there are no moral victories. Don’t show me great effort at the end. Show me great effort at the beginning so we’re not in a hole like that to start with. I will say this, I’m proud of our kids’ effort. But you have to start the game better than that.”

The Bears rebounded with 50-percent shooting in the second half and slowly whittled away at the deficit. Down 18 with five minutes to play. UCA put together an impressive 14-0 scoring run to close it to 70-65 on a rebound basket by Michael Evbagharu with 1:35 left. But the Bears did not score again and dropped to 1-2 in ASUN play.

UCA freshman guard Layne Taylor, the reigning ASUN Newcomer of the Week, was held to 11 points. He has now scored in double figures in 15 straight games, _ including 27 and 29 in his last two _ since a five-point effort in the season opener at BYU.

Freshman Cole McCormick had his third game of the season in double figures with 14 points. Senior Elias Cato had 13 points and 7 rebounds, while Evbagharu has first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, 6 of those on the offensive end.

UCA was just 6 of 7 at the free-throw line while Stetson was 12 of 16, including 10 of 14 in the second half, and 23.1 percent from three-point range (9 of 39).

“We got the ball, we’re down 18 with 6:00 to play,” said Shulman. “And the ball is in the air to cut it to three with a minute to go. So we do have fight, and I can’t blame our guys for not trying and putting out great effort. But I’m just disappointed that ball doesn’t go in for us sometimes.

“We just have to keep on battling. It’s a test and we’ll always pass the test because we’re always going to go back to work.”

UCA continues its road trip at Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday in Fort Myers, Fla. Tip-off is 1 p.m. from Alico Arena.