The UCA men’s basketball team slayed the Queens University Royals 84-79 to secure the ASUN regular season championship title Feb. 28.
“What a perfect way for this team to win a huge home game and eventually win a regular season championship,” UCA men’s basketball coach John Shulman said. “I’ll tell you why: because we follow [senior guard Camren Hunter’s] lead. He is our leader. He is everything to us.”
Hunter was honored before the game as the Bears’ only senior for Senior Day.
“[The day] started off emotional,” Hunter said. “Started off as a day; just another day in the gym for me. I want to be professional with it, so that’s how I take it. It’s been a roller coaster; my emotions have been up and down, but I was able to channel it to help the team.”
The Bears (20-11, ASUN 15-3) bolted into the lead in the first four minutes of the game with a pair of layups by redshirt freshman guard Ty Robinson, followed by a blitz of 3-pointers and a layup by Hunter.
The Royals (18-13, ASUN 13-5) were able to get their first points on the board three minutes into the game with a pair of free throws from junior forward Avantae Parker.
UCA continued to increase its lead to up to 12 points in the first ten minutes of the game with layups by freshman forward Truman Byrne and junior guard Javion Guy-King.
The Royals, however, were able to close in on UCA’s lead with a series of field goals to inch within 3 points with 6:32 remaining in the first half.
Robinson, Hunter and Guy-King answered with their own 2-point shots, bringing the Bears’ lead to 7 points by the end of the first half.
Guy-King, Robinson and freshman guard Harry Beauchamp kicked off the second half with a 3-point shot each for the Bears to cushion UCA’s lead back into double-digits.
The Bears were able to maintain a double-digit lead until Queens began to once again inch closer in the last ten minutes of the game.
Queens graduate guard Chris Ashby brought the Royals within 2 points of the Bears with a 3-pointer with 3:31 to play.
Hunter, Guy-King and redshirt freshman guard/forward Tyler Lee answered with a series of layups.
Hunter racked up 6 points from free throws after being fouled by Queens during every UCA ball possession within the last 30 seconds of the game.
Despite the Royals’ efforts to stall the game enough to take the lead, the Bears came out on top with a final score of 84-79.
Hunter capped off his final game in the Farris Center with 30 points, eight rebounds and 12/12 free throws made. This feat marked Hunter’s fifth 30-point game this season.
Guy-King scored 18 points and had four rebounds, and Robinson, despite fouling out late in the second half, recorded 12 points, four rebounds and three steals.
After the game, the Bears along with a crowd of audience members watched the end of the game between the Austin Peay State University Governors and the Bellarmine University Knights.
The Governors lost to Bellarmine, giving the title of ASUN regular season conference champions for the first time to the Bears.
Hunter said the team is now looking forward to the ASUN championship, where UCA is the number one seed.
“The job’s not done,” Hunter said. “I would love to sit up here, and I’m just cherishing it right now; it is a special moment. But my goal is to go to March Madness, and that’s just my end goal.”