Cato, McCormick pick up scoring slack as Bears down Wolves

CONWAY, Ark. — Central Arkansas gutted out a much-needed victory Wednesday night, holding off the West Georgia Wolves 75-70 in Atlantic Sun Conference action at the Farris Center.

UCA got a career-high 18 points from redshirt freshman Ben Fox and made 10 of 23 from three-point range (43.5 percent) to earn its first victory since Jan. 4. The three-point percentage was the second-best of the season and came at a perfect time.

“We make things interesting, but I’m really proud of them and happy for them,” said UCA coach John Shulman. “We needed it badly. And to do this with how shorthanded we are is amazing. We’re going to enjoy this group and we’re going to have fun for at least nine more games, and we’d like to have a few more.”

The Bears, playing their second game without injured leading scorer Layne Taylor, got contributions from all 10 players that saw the court, including 17 points and 8 rebounds from lone senior Elias Cato, and three three-pointers and 11 points from freshman Cole McCormick. Sophomore Brayden Fagbemi added 7 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists, and hit two big free throws with 24.3 remaining. Sophomore Mike Evbagharu had 8 points and 9 rebounds.

UCA Bears Elias Cato looks for shot against West Georgia at the Farris Center in Conway, Ark. | Ted McClenning-AllBears+ Imaages

The Bears led 44-32 at halftime after shooting 51.5 percent from the field and making six three-pointers, three each from Fox and McCormick. But the Wolves (4-18, 2-7), who had just beaten North Florida by 20 points on Saturday, opened the half with a 12-4 run to cut the deficit to 48-44.

UCA answered that with an 8-0 burst, bookended by a three-pointer from Cato and a dunk by freshman Nehemiah Turner. Fagbemi handled most of the ball-handling duties despite picking up his fourth foul with 7:36 left to play. The Wolves got within two with 1:55 left on a layup by Shelton Williams-Dryden, but Fox responded with a huge three from the corner for a 73-68 lead.

Kyric Davis scored for UWG with 27.5 on the clock but Fagbemi nailed both free throws with 24.3 left to seal it.

“I think Max (Shulman) and Brock (Widders) did an outstanding job getting us ready offensively,” said Shulman. “And I made a deal with myself that I would call a bunch of timeouts. And there’s a difference in calling a time out when the score is tied or you’re behind and when you’re winning. And I’ve done a very average time calling time outs with this team at the right time.

“So I think we used our time outs better. Elias made a humongous three when we had to answer right there. And really proud of and happy for Brayden. He made two huge free throws. And I’m a big believer that you have to fail first before you can succeed. He fought the demons and faced them and made two huge free throws late and helped us win a basketball game.”

UCA also got valuable minutes from its bench, from Turner (5 points, 4 blocks), Ethan Thomas (5 points), D.J. Seixas (4 points) and Connor Mancell, with four minutes off the bench in his first action since Dec. 22.

“Good for him (Mancell), he’s been busting his tail in practice,” said Shulman. “Nemo’s starting to come along, D.J.’s starting to come along a little bit. And how about Ethan making a dadgum three? There are some moments that you’re never going to forget, and Ethan made a huge three. I’m looking at Elias who is checking in and he looks at me and just starts laughing.

“And listen, that’s what it’s all about. What it’s all about is making amazing memories, and these guys are doing that. It’s about the journey. We talk about writing our own chapter. Our book is about four chapters in, but who knows what the book entails. But we are definitely playing better and I think we’re hungry.

“I keep telling the guys, we don’t have pressure on us, but they feel like they do because they feel like they’re letting everybody down. But tonight we didn’t let anybody down.”

West Georgia, which shot just 39.7 percent overall, was led by Davis with 19 points and Williams-Dryden with 17.

UCA heads to Florence, Ala., on Saturday to take on North Alabama at 7:45 p.m.

Information from UCA Sports is included in this story.