The men’s basketball team (4-3) came out on top in a rivalry game against the University of Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans (2-5) Nov. 11. The final score in the game, which was part of the Governor’s I-40 Showdown, was 82-71 in favor of the Bears. 

UCA played host to the 16th annual matchup between the Bears and Trojans. 

UCA was able to score early and often but the Trojans continued to hang around in the first half. UCA continued to hold off the Trojans as junior guard Collin Cooper and senior forward Eddy Kayouloud knocked down the Trojans attempted three-pointers.

UCA held a 37-30 lead at halftime. When the third quarter started, the Bears came out hot. The Bears extended their lead early in the third quarter. 

Little Rock would ultimately claw back once again though and cut the lead to single digits in the fourth quarter.

Cooper made three-pointers throughout the game for UCA and helped regain a double-digit lead.

UCA shot 38% from the three-point line and shot 46% from the field as a whole. UCA had 12 fast break points as well as 12 second chance points. UCA scored 22 points off turnovers.

Kayouloud led the Bears with 26 points on 11-17 shooting from the floor, including 2-2 from three-point range. 

Kayouloud also added four rebounds. Cooper contributed 22 points on a career high six made three-pointers. Cooper was also tied with the second most rebounds on the team with seven.

UCA sophomore point guard Camren Hunter scored 13 points and five rebounds while dishing a career high of 11 assists. 

Sophomore guard/forward Ibbe Klintman led the Bears in rebounding with eight and added eight points. 

Hunter said, “I’ve had the keys to the offense since last year, my freshman year. I am comfortable just doing whatever my team needs me to do in this offense.” 

UCA Coach Anthony Boone said, “We were certainly excited to play here at home, to play our neighbors down the road. And our guys wanted to come out and continue to improve on the defense we’ve been playing here lately. And we really came out and did a great job establishing the defensive end early on in the game. And really in the second half, looking at the numbers, our defense was even better.”

The Bears travel to Chicago to play Loyola University on Wednesday, Nov. 30.