The UCA men’s basketball team beat the Eastern Kentucky Colonels 83-76 at the Farris Center on Saturday, Feb. 19, with senior forward Jared Chatham scoring 36 of the Bears’ points.
Junior Darious Hall contributed 21 points to the Bears’ 79-72 win in the season’s Jan. 4 game against the Colonels. Due to an ongoing shoulder injury, Hall was out of commission for their second matchup, which left an opportunity for the other starters to step it up on home turf.
Fittingly, for the team’s senior day game, Chatham did just that. Not only did he pitch in three dozen points, but he also secured 16 rebounds and three assists for the team.
The Bears started strong, leading 40-26 at halftime. The Colonels struggled to overcome the Bears’ comfortable lead going into the second half but put up a fierce fight near the game’s end.
In the last five minutes of the game, the Colonels chipped away at the Bears’ double-digit lead, and with a minute left, the Bears were only three points ahead.
The Bears quickly retook control of the court, thanks to four free throws and a dunk by Chatham just before the final buzzer.
“Eastern Kentucky, they press a lot. So we expected that coming in, and I was just trying to encourage my teammates to stay calm at all times,” Chatham said.
“No one has been more consistent than [Chatham] down the stretch. An amazing, amazing game,” coach Anthony Boone said to ucasports.com.
Boone said the win could put them in a better position for future brackets. “We want to be able to play a game at home in the conference tournament.”
“We’re taking each game one at a time and however many games we can win to help secure that,” Boone said to ucasports.com.
Chatham took photographs with young Bears fans before and after his post-game interview.
“My mom being in town, you know, she came from L.A., she’s not able to come to most of my games, so when she’s in town, I got to always make sure [I’m focused],” Chatham said.
The win against the Colonels comes a few days after the Bears’ loss to the Bellarmine Knights Wednesday, Feb. 16, with a final score of 79-69 in the Farris Center.
Boone recognized freshman guard Camren Hunter’s performance, who started for the team and scored 25 points against the Knights.
“I can’t say enough about [Hunter]. I really can’t. He handled the ball well, didn’t turn it over, finished strong around the basket and made the right plays. He had an incredible night. I just hate that we couldn’t pull it off with him playing so well,” Boone said.
“We have to be a little bit better than we were tonight, especially shooting the ball,” Boone said after the loss. “[The players] understand that Eastern [Kentucky] wants to come in, and they understand that we want to get this taste out of our mouths.”
Boone credited sophomore Jaxson Baker for energizing the team with his 3-pointers and for having his best shooting game of the year.
The Bears will play in Florence, Alabama, against the North Alabama Lions at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23. Then, they will be headed to Nashville, Tennessee, to face the Lipscomb Bisons at 1 p.m. the following Saturday.
The NCAA’s Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament will take place March 1-8, and the locations and times for the games will be updated on ucasports.com once they become available.