Bears overcome injuries for much-needed win over West Georgia

CARROLLTON, Ga. — UCA used a balanced attack to complete the sweep of the West Georgia Wolves on Thursday night, winning 82-71 in an important Atlantic Sun matchup at The Coliseum.

The Bears, with two new injuries keeping Michael Evbagharu and Ethan Thomas out of the lineup, got double-figure scoring from four of their five starters and made 12 three-pointers to beat the Wolves for the second time this season and move a step closer to securing a berth in the ASUN Tournament.

The Bears and Wolves entered the game tied with 3-12 conference records and tied for 10th place. UCA is now 8-21 overall and 4-12 in league play. UWG fell to 5-24 and 3-13. Both teams have two games remaining. The top 10 teams make the tournament field.

“I’m just proud of them,” said UCA coach John Shulman. “Coming off Queens (loss on Tuesday), Mike’s out, how on earth are we going to get this thing figured out. We had a really good practice last night, a really positive practice. You know, we probably really won the game last night at practice.

“But everybody just made big shots. Ben (Fox) made a huge three at the beginning of the second half when they took the lead. They took the lead and we answered. Elias (Cato) made some big ones. And we haven’t played with a lead late in the game. We got some stops and we got some free throws.

“Listen, to be battling still after what this team has been through. And to be battling in late February, and to finally get our first road win. I told Elias, you want to leave your legacy here, get us back to the ASUN Tournament. And we’re not assured of that yet. But we really took a step forward with this win, and I’m really proud of our kids.”

UCA, which beat UWG 75-70 last month at the Farris Center, grabbed a 36-35 halftime lead behind 11 points from sophomore guard Brayden Fagbemi, and two three-pointers each from Fagbemi and Cato, UCA’s only senior. The Bears then outscored the Wolves 46-36 in the second half, shooting 51.9 percent from the field, 3 of 5 from three-point range and 11 of 15 at the free-throw line.

Freshman center Nehemiah Turner scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half, while fellow freshman Cole McCormick tallied 13 of his 18 points after the break. Fagbemi led the Bears with 19 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists while going 3 of 7 from the arc. Cato finished 4 of 7 from the perimeter and had 16 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

Fox, UCA’s fifth starter, was close to double figures with 8 points and a pair of three-pointers. For the game, UCA made 12 of 28 or 42.9 percent from three-point range. The Bears were also 18 of 24 (75 percent) from the foul line.

“To finally get a road win,” said Shulman. “And I approached it different. We talked about it, we’re always down at the beginning of the game. I said instead of drowning and swimming in self pity, why don’t we just get mad and try to go win the game. We haven’t talked about the W a whole lot, because ot the injuries and everything else, and because we haven’t won a whole lot.

“So we haven’t talked about winning and losing a whole lot. We did before this game. We just said, hey, this is a big-boy game. If you want to play in the ASUN Tournament, we have to win the game. We have to try to win the game. And you try and you don’t, it’s OK. But what is not OK is not trying to win the game.

“And I thought tonight we tried to win the game, and I was proud of them.”

The Bears return home for their final home game of the season on Monday night, hosting North Alabama at 6:30 at the Farris Center. They will then finish the regular season at Lipscomb in Nashville, Tenn., on Wednesday.

Information from UCA Sports is included in this story.