UCA’s men’s basketball team overcame a 13 point first-half deficit to claim their eighth consecutive victory, defeating the upset-minded University of North Alabama Lions 72-65 at Flowers Hall in Florence, Alabama on Feb. 9.
The victory moves the Bears to 15-10 on the season, and 10-2 in Atlantic Sun Conference play.
This is only the second season in which UCA has won both 15 games and 10 conference games since joining the Division 1 level in 2006, when the Bears went 18-17 (10-8 Southland) in the 2017-18 season.
Central Arkansas struggled to find a rhythm on both sides of the ball for nearly the entirety of the
first-half. The Bears allowed 24 points in the paint, and turned the ball over 11 times in just the first twenty minutes.
The North Alabama lead would reach its peak when sophomore guard Kevin De Kovachich made a layup with 2:29 left in the first half to extend the Lions advantage to 36-23.
From there UCA would finish the half on a 6-1 spurt to chip away at the North Alabama lead, heading into the halftime break down 37-29.
The Bears came out in the second half with new found intensity, opening the period on an 18-10 run capped off by junior guard Javion Guy-King’s layup to tie the game at 47-47 with 12:40 to play.
After a few more minutes of trading baskets, UCA would grab its first lead of the night with 6:04 remaining, as senior guard Camren Hunter was fouled and made both free throws to put the Bears up 61-59.
A quick North Alabama run saw the Lions reclaim a 64-61 lead with 4:19 to go before Hunter answered with a three the next possession, sparking a 11-1 run in the closing minutes as the Bears secured a 72-65 victory.
Despite 13 turnovers of their own, Central Arkansas turned the Lions over 19 times and cashed in for 25 points off turnovers to propel their second-half surge.
Coach Shulman spoke postgame about how impressed he was with the team’s ability to come together and find a way to win despite the Bears many miscues.
Shulman said, “We’ve got a very special team, to find a way to win when we didn’t have our A-game or B-game, we probably had our C-game, and to find a way to win in here when they played really good is impressive.”
Camren Hunter continued to make a strong case for ASUN Player of the Year in the win, scoring an efficient 28 points. Having gone 8/12 shooting and 9/9 from the free throw line.
Hunter spoke after the win and was asked about his mindset during the home stretch of the game as he led the Bears to victory.
Hunter said, “Get a win, that’s been my mindset since the day I stepped back on campus, to win, and that’s what we’re doing right now.”
Central Arkansas returns to the Farris Center on Feb. 12 for a rematch with the Bellarmine University Knights (11-13, 6-6 ASUN) as the Bears look to extend their winning streak.
All UCA basketball games can be streamed on ESPN+.