UCA three-point record falls as Bears drill 20 in rout of Ecclesia

Information from UCA Sports is included in this story.

Central Arkansas had never made 20 3-pointers in a game.

That changed Tuesday night in Conway in a 127-54 win over winless Ecclesia.

Isaiah Templeton led the way with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 4 of 6 from deep. Most of that came after the game was decided, but they all count the same.

The 20 makes now stand as the UCA three-point record for a single game. The 127 points rank second in program history.

The team also handed out 32 assists, got 83 points from its bench and had six players reach double figures.

Tucker Anderson gave the Bears 15 points. He made 5 of 8 from long range and pulled down four boards.

Camarion Bead had 14 and made 5 of 6 at the line. J.C. Shulman went 3 of 5 from outside for nine points, and both of them came away with two steals.

Andrew Hoerner didn’t score much, but his eight assists kept everybody else fed. He finished with five points and five rebounds.

Ecclesia’s own shooting didn’t help its cause. The Royals shot 38.6% from the field and 28% from 3-point range, and they coughed it up 20 times.

Ty Robinson against Ecclesia. | Ted McClenning-allBears+ Images

Ecclesia was down 18 before it scored

UCA (2-1) jumped on early turnovers and led 18-0 with 15:50 left in the first half. Harry Beauchamp, Luke Moore and Anderson all hit 3s in that stretch, and Ty Robinson added free throws and a layup.

The Royals got on the board with a 3 at that same mark. They added another to make it 24-10 at 13:21.

The Bears’ answer was a 12-0 run. Simm-Marten Saadi scored twice in it, and Rylie Marshall, R.J. Young and Robinson also got baskets.

Ecclesia knocked down another 3 to cut it to 36-13, then watched the next 15 points go the other way. Moore and Bead connected from outside in that run, and Templeton, Hoerner and Anderson each scored to make it 51-13.

UCA kept getting to the rim and the free throw line the rest of the half. Cole McCormick’s fast-break layup and another layup by Moore made it 71-23 at halftime.

Those 71 points were the most the program has put up in a half since moving to Division I. By then, the only real question was how many more 3s would fall.

UCA Bears coach John Shulman against Ecclesia. | Ted McClenning-allBears+ Images

Templeton got hot late

The Bears went inside to start the second half. Saadi dunked, Bead and Marshall scored on layups and McCormick’s 3-pointer made it 80-26 at 16:39. Young added a dunk, and Bead scored twice more around a couple of Royals jumpers.

Templeton’s big stretch started around the 10-minute mark. After R.J. Newton’s tip-in at 10:13, Templeton drilled a 3, Shulman matched him and Templeton came back with a dunk for a 96-32 lead.

Ecclesia got scores from three different players to get within 96-42. A Saadi free throw and a Royals basket made it 97-44.

UCA then put together 12 straight points between 6:36 and 4:26. Templeton had a 3, a free throw and a layup in that run. Bead made a free throw, Shulman buried another triple and Newton scored on a layup.

A Royals 3 finally stopped it. Hoerner and Templeton answered from the perimeter, with Templeton knocking down two more, and it was 118-48 at 3:06. Young, Newton and Shulman scored late as the teams swapped baskets to the finish.

The schedule gets a lot tougher this week. The Bears visit Arkansas on Friday, Nov. 13, with a 7 p.m. tip at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.