Bears
UCA improving, but can’t manage to pull out win over Jacksonville
John Shulman encouraged, but Dolphins pull away late after UCA leads most of first half on road
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Central Arkansas put up a admirable fight against the second-place Jacksonville Dolphins on Saturday but ultimately fell 72-62 in Atlantic Sun Conference action at Swisher Gymnasium.
The Bears (5-14, 1-5), playing their fourth consecutive road game, opened with a stifling defensive effort in the first half, holding Jacksonville scoreless for the first four minutes, and to just seven points in the first 10 minutes of action.
The Dolphins picked it up offensively to close the first half and took a 26-21 lead to the locker room. The Bears shot just 8 of 30 (26.7 percent) from the field in the half but stayed in it because of its defense.
“Our margin for error is like nothing,” said UCA coach John Shulman. “But I tell you this, I thought we fought, I thought we battled. They (Jacksonville) are really good and we led (almost) the entire first half. We just get fatigued. And since we’re missing some of our bullets, this team just has to play a little bit more perfect.
“But I told them in the locker room, I’m more encouraged now than I’ve been in a long time. I’m proud of our kids. It’s not easy what we’ve asked of them, and it’s not easy what they’re going through.”
Both offenses heated up in the second half, first the Dolphins, then the Bears. JU led by as much as 10 points early in the second half before UCA cut it to six with 12:50 left. The Dolphins then made three straight three-pointers and another basket for a 13-0 run that gave them a 56-37 cushion at the midway point of the half.
The Bears came right back with a 7-2 run, but still trailed by 16. UCA then reeled off 15 straight points, highlighted by three-pointers from Brayden Fagbemi and two from Cole McCormick, who scored 16 of his career-high 19 points in the second half. Two of the points also came on technical foul free throws by freshman Layne Taylor.
That got the Bears within seven points, 69-62, with just 48 seconds remaining after McCormick’s fifth three-pointer of the game. But the Dolphins held on for their fifth straight victory on the season, and fifth straight over the Bears.
“I love the ASUN and we’re in a great league,” said Shulman. “But putting us on the road for two straight weeks in Florida, and having to fly back and forth, that’s really hard for a basketball team. And it’s really hard for a basketball team that is out (missing) players. No excuse, that’s what we had to do. But this has been a really hard two weeks.
“And we’re still out here playing our guts out. So let’s go home, let’s take a deep breath, let’s get better at practice and let’s get some people out (at the games). We need some people out there on Thursday night. Because we’re playing our guts out. And I know we’re not having the success right now, but boy, they better get us now because we don’t have a whole lot of bullets at this moment.
“But we will. And we’re (still) going to play that hard and that good when we do. And I really don’t think people are dying to play Central Arkansas right now. We had two freshmen, one had 20 (points) and one had 19, and a sophomore had 12. And another freshman had 10 boards.
“We’ve got some young guys doing some really good things. The future is bright, but we have to go through a storm or two, and we’re going through some storms right now.”
Taylor, a freshman from Farmington, Ark., led the Bears with 20 points, going 7-of-7 at the free-throw line. McCormick, another freshman from Chattanooga, Tenn., was 5-of-6 from the three-point line, while Fagbemi, a sophomore point guard, added 12 points. Freshman center Nehemiah Turner, from Auburndale, Fla., finished with 10 rebounds, nine coming in the first half, and two blocked shots.
UCA shot just 36.1 percent from the field while Jacksonville shot 48.2 percent on its home floor, including 57.1 percent in the second half. The Dolphins also made 10 of 21 (47.6 percent) from beyond the arc, three more than their season average.
UCA finally returns home for three consecutive games, beginning Thursday night when its hosts Austin Peay at 6:30 at the Farris Center.
