UCA drills 13 three-pointers, handing SLU an 88-71 loss

CONWAY, Ark. – Central Arkansas made 13 three-pointers and dished out 22 assists on their way to defeating the Southeastern Louisiana men’s basketball team, 88-71, Wednesday night at the Ferris Center.

The Lions (7-16, 5-9 Southland) had four players score in double figures led by sophomore Nick Caldwell with 16 points. The Geismar, Louisiana native shot 8-for-13 from the field and snatched six rebounds. Gus Okafor and Keon Clergeot both scored 14 points while Joe Kasperzyk added 13.

The Bears (5-18, 4-11 Southland) got 20 points from Rylan Bergersen, a first team preseason All-Southland selection. Eddy Kayloud had 19 points and nine rebounds while Jared Chatham scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Colin Cooper chipped in with 12 points, including four three-pointers.

SLU fell behind early as they trailed by 18 points late in the first half, 38-20. The Lions battled back to cut the deficit to 11 before Bergersen knocked down a three-pointer as the first half ended giving UCA a 43-29 lead at the half.

In the second half, the Lions came out on fire as they quickly cut the UCA lead down to four, 48-44, with 16:14 left in the game. However, the Bears responded with a 15-0 run to take a 19-point lead of 63-44 with 11:27 remaining.

The Bears led by as much as 25 as SLU never got closer than 17 the rest of the way. The win earned UCA a season split with the Lions as Southeastern defeated the Bears 69-57 earlier this year in Hammond, Louisiana.

UCA finished the game 13-for-23 from the three-point line and outrebounded Southeastern, 43-25. The Bears finished 32-for-63 from the field aided by 22 assists while SLU was 27-for-62 with four assists.

With the loss, Southeastern sits in seventh place in the conference standings as they enter the regular season finale. The Lions still are within reach a first-round bye in the tournament. With the field being expanded to 10 teams, the top six teams will receive first round byes.

SLU is a half game behind sixth place UIW (8-12, 5-8 Southland) who plays Abilene Christian (19-4, 11-2 Southland) on the road Saturday. The Lions will face New Orleans (8-14, 7-7 Southland) Saturday night on the road in the regular season finale. With a win over UNO and a loss by UIW to ACU, the Lions will clinch the sixth seed and a first-round bye in the tournament.

Southeastern defeated UNO earlier this year at home, 79-73. The two teams will tip it off Saturday night at 7 p.m.

SLU (7-16, 5-9 Southland)
Caldwell 8-13, 0-0 16, Okafor 5-15, 2-2 14, Kirby 1-5, 0-0 3, Clergeot 5-9, 2-4 14, Kasperzyk 3-8, 5-7 13, Warren 2-4, 0-0 5, Romanov 0-1, 0-0 0, Smith 2-3, 0-0 4, Kemp 0-0, 0-0 0, Strange 0-1, 0-0 0, Brackmann 1-2, 0-0 2, Howell 0-1, 0-0 0
Totals 27-62, 9-13 71

UCA (5-18, 4-11 Southland)
Kayouloud 8-15, 3-7 19, Chatham 8-16, 0-0 16, Bergersen 7-9, 2-3 20, Bennett 2-6, 1-2 5, Olowokere 1-5, 6-6 8, Baker, 2-5, 2-2 8, Cooper 4-7, 0-0 12, Munson 0-0, 0-0 0, Simmons 0-0, 0-0 0
Totals 32-63, 11-13 88

Halftime – UCA 43 SLU 29. 3-point goals – SLU 8-20 (Okafor 2-7, Clergeot 2-2, Kasperzyk 2-3, Kirby 1-2, Warren 1-3, Smith 0-1, Strange 0-1, Howell 0-1) UCA 13-23 (Bergersen 4-5, Cooper 4-6, Kayouloud 3-7, Baker 2-3, Chatham 0-1, Olowokere 0-1). Technical Fouls SLU – Clergeot, Kirby, Team. UCA – Bennett. Fouled Out – SLU – None. UCA – None. Rebounds – UCA 43, SLU 25 (SLU – Caldwell 6), (UCA – Kayouloud, Chatham 9). Assists – SLU 4 (Kasperzyk 2), NSU 22 (Bennett 7). Total Fouls – SLU 9, UCA 18.