The UCA men’s basketball team (6-18, 2-9 ASUN) fought a tough game at home against the University of Charlotte Queens Royals (15-9, 8-3 ASUN), 63-47.

The Bears had a difficult time on the perimeter, shooting 1 for 21 from the 3-point line. Queens’ senior guard Chris Ashby broke out with a quick 27 points on 9 of 26 shooting from three.

UCA men’s basketball coach John Shulman said, “we just couldn’t make a shot, you know. When most teams can make a shot they don’t guard, but our kids have been through a lot.”

The Bears have been struggling due to injury. 

Shulman said, “We’ve lost five of our top players, so we’ve been through a lot of adversity… We’re not able to practice because our kids are so beat up, so we use the game as practice.”

Sophomore guard Brayden Fagbemi and freshman forward Nehemiah Turner led the Bears in scoring with 12 points, and Sophomore guard Michael Evbagharu led the Bears in rebounds picking up 10 total.

Shulman said, “Nehemiah Turner is going against a kid that was at Georgetown, so he’s a graduate student. So, I would say that kid’s probably 24 years old and Nemo is just a freshman and he had 12 points and he didn’t back down and was really good against him…”

Shulman said, “Two weeks ago today, we had Layne Taylor on the court and we had Elias Cato on the court. Lane averages 18 a game. Elias averages 15 a game. Jerk those two out of the lineup and that’s 33 points out of the lineup…”

Despite injury, the Bears did their best on the court. 

Shulman said, “us not making a shot doesn’t even faze us, we just keep guarding and guarding and guarding… we’re building a foundation that people can’t see right now but they will one day.”

Shulman said, “You have to cherish these opportunities, everybody’s dream is to play division 1 basketball, and if this is the worst thing that is going to happen to them in their life then we’re in good shape because I know that we’re teaching the right thing to them. We’re teaching them to battle through adversity and they are and they are doing a great job of that.”

The UCA men’s basketball team faces off against the Jacksonville Dolphins at 4:00 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 13 at F&M Bank Arena.