Bears can never get out in front against Little Rock in 63-57 loss

CONWAY, Ark. — Central Arkansas overcame two big deficits Wednesday night against Little Rock but eventually fell 63-57 to the Trojans at the Jack Stephens Center.

UCA (2-6) trailed by 15 points late in the first half before finishing the half with an 8-0 scoring run and went to the locker room down 32-25.

In the second half, the Trojans (5-4) grabbed a 13-point advantage at the midway point, but UCA again fought back and cut it to as little as a three-point margin with 5:30 remaining.

But UCA’s lone senior Elias Cato fouled out with 2:08 to play and Little Rock made six free throws in the final 50 seconds to hold off the Bears. UCA freshman Cole McCormick, just back from injury, hit a three-pointer with 5.8 seconds on the clock to make it a three-point game at 61-57.

The Trojans committed an offensive foul, giving the Bears a shot at tying it but they missed a three-point attempt and fouled Little Rock’s Ante Beljan, who made both free throws to set the final.

“I can’t tell you that we have a bad team,” said UCA coach John Shulman. “I’m not going to do it. We just came into a place, they’re supposed to win the OVC (Ohio Valley Conference), and we came in and didn’t play great. But we battled and battled and battled and gave ourselves a shot at the end of the basketball game on their court.

“So as a basketball coach, and I supposed to be mad that we missed shots or am I supposed to be really proud of them that we battled? We have a very unique basketball team, a very uncommon basketball team, that is battling their guts out for this university, this community, for each other. And I’m really proud to be their basketball coach.”

UCA, playing again without four players, had a tough offensive night, hitting just 31.1 percent from the field and going 6 of 26 (23.1 percent) from three-point range. The Bears got 13 points from Cato, and had three freshmen also score in double figures. Guard Layne Taylor also had 13 points, while forward Nehemia Turner had 12 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocked shots, and McCormick scored 11 points (3 of 4 from three-point range).

“They (Trojans) have great length, they play kind of a funky zone that we won’t see the rest of the year,” said Shulman. “And they make you do stuff you don’t want to do. But I’ll be honest with you. When you don’t shoot it well and you continue to bust your tail and you continue to guard… that’s a great sign.

“When you shoot it well, it’s easy to guard, it’s easy to be pumped up. When you don’t, it’s impossible. But we continue to play our tail ends off. And I’m really proud of them.”

Johnathan Lawson hit six three-pointers and led the Trojans with 18 points, playing all 40 minutes.

The Bears continue their in-state run at Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 6 p.m. Saturday.