Bears can’t handle Lipscomb with key injuries creating problems

CONWAY, Ark. — Injury-riddled Central Arkansas put up a solid fight Saturday afternoon but eventually fell 68-55 to the Lipscomb Bisons in ASUN action at the Farris Center.

The Bears, playing without leading scorer Layne Taylor, as well as three others players, battled the preseason ASUN favorite for 30 minutes before the Bisons finally pulled away. The Bears out-shot and out-rebounded the Bisons (14-7, 6-2).

UCA shot 45.8 percent overall to Lipscomb’s 41.9 percent. UCA pulled down 36 rebounds, including four players with at least five, while Lipscomb had 34.

The big difference came at the free-throw line where the Bisons made 16 of 21 and UCA was just 6-of-14. Lipscomb also outscored UCA 18-11 in points off turnovers.

“If you’ve watched us, you would know that Layne is pretty important to our basketball team,” said UCA coach John Shulman. “He’s kind of the leader of our team, he makes the plays for our team and everyone revolves around Layne. You take Layne out of that mix, it throws you … you get a little crazy for a second. And we had that happen to us.

“We’re looking for Layne and he’s over there in a sling right beside me. I get that and I understand that. But we rebounded and we regrouped and I was proud of them for that. You play the best team in the league, without now a bunch of guys you thought were going to be starters. And you still give yourself a chance. So what am I supposed to do, be mad at our guys? I’m not. I appreciate their effort, I’m proud of their effort.

“Look, that bunch (Lipscomb) is really good offensively, but I thought we were really good defensively. We played really hard, we just don’t have enough bodies right now.”

The Bears struggled offensively without Taylor in the early going, turning the ball over 10 times in the opening half, but still just trailing 33-28 at the break.

They kept the deficit at six points after senior Elias Cato made a pair of free throws four minutes into the second half.

Sophomore D.J. Seixas made a three-pointer from the corner to make it 45-39 at the 12:34 mark. Cato’s dunk was good for a 47-41 deficit with 11:56 remaining.

But the Bisons, coming off a loss at North Alabama on Thursday, slowly pushed the lead out to as much 17 points down the stretch.

Cato led the Bears with 17 points and 5 rebounds, while freshman Cole McCormick had 13 points, including a pair of three-pointers.

Sophomore point guard Brayden Fagbemi, who was forced to play more than 37 minutes with Taylor’s absence, had 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. UCA’s defensive specialist Mike Evbagharu had a team-high 7 rebounds and helped hold the ASUN’s leading scorer Jacob Ognacevic to 14 points.

Guard Will Pruitt topped Lipscomb with 18 points, while Joe Anderson added 17. UCA’s defense held the Bisons to just 6 of 34 (17.6 percent) from three-point range.

“For us to be where we are injury wise, and out there playing against the best team in the league,” said Shulman. “We’re laying down a foundation that we can do some neat things here, so I’ve kind of changed my view of things. I just asked them in the locker room, without Ty (Robinson), without Layne, without Tyler (Lee) and without Javion (Guy-King), do you have a chance to beat the best team in the league?

“Yes we did, and that’s a great thing. So let’s build on that and let’s improve a little bit here, a little bit there and get a little bit better. And let’s have some fun. It’s hard to beat relentless, but people are beating relentless right now. But we keep coming at you and keep coming at you. We’re going to get a break sometime.”

The Bears close out their three-game homestand at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday when they host ASUN newcomer West Georgia at the Farris Center.

Information from UCA Sports is included in this story.