CONWAY, Ark. _ A second-half rally by the University of Central Arkansas Bears fell short Wednesday night as the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks took a 73-64 victory before a crowd of 1,322 at the Farris Center.
The Bears fought back from a 20-point deficit early in the second half to pull within seven points on two separate ocassions but the Skyhawks held on to hand the Bears (2-6) their fourth straight loss. UTM broke a six-game losing streak to improve to 3-6 overall.
After leading by 15 at halftime, the Skyhawks went up 51-31 at the 12-minute mark of the second half. But the Bears turned up the pressure on the defensive end and found their shooting touch on the other and strung together a 19-6 scoring run to make it 57-50 with 6:35 remaining.
“We had several guys that stepped up there in the second half,’ said UCA head coach Corliss Williamson. “I think we finally decided to pick it up defensively and get our rotations down right. But you can’t do that. You can’t wait until you’re down 20 points to decide to play basketball.
“That’s another lesson our kids have to learn. We’re not that type of team. We’re not good enough to turn a switch on and off. We have to come out ready to play at the beginning of every game.’
The Skyhawks shot nearly 60 percent from the field in the first half and made 6 of 9 from three-point range to stake themselves to a 40-25 lead at the break. A dunk by Benzor Simmons gave UTM a 17-10 lead with 8:42 remaining. The Bears answered with a three-pointer from sophomore Jeff Jackson before the Skyhawks went on an 8-0 scoring run for a 25-13 advantage with 6:51 left.
The Bears, or more specifically senior forward Tadre Sheppard, scored six consecutive points to close the gap to 25-19 with 4:55 left on the clock. But the Skyhawks came back with another 8-0 run to push the lead back to 33-19. Carlos Dos Santos scored inside for the Bears but the Skyhawks got back-to-back baskets from Andres Irarrazabal to take a 40-25 halftime lead.
The Bears shot 35.5 percent from the field and just 12.5 percent (1 of 8) from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes. Sheppard scored 12 points for UCA and Troy King had 16 for UTM, including 3 of 4 from three-point range.
UTM outrebounded the Bears 45-25 and shot 52 percent from the field for the game.
“Rebounding has been an achilles heel for our team pretty much all season,’ said Williamson. “It’s something we’re trying to address. We have to find some rebounding somewhere. I don’t think we do a good job rebounding as a team, we don’t put enough emphasis on it, we don’t have a sense urgency to get the rebounds.
“We’re going to have to find a way to fix that problem.’
Sheppard led the Bears with a season-high 19 points, while junior guard Dewan Clayborn added 16 points. King topped the Skyhawks with 23 points, while Mike Liabo added 12 and Simmons had 10 points and 9 rebounds.
UCA travels to Nacogdoches, Texas, this weekend for the Stephen F. Austin Classic. The Bears face Chicago State at 5 p.m. Friday and take on Grambling State at 5 p.m. Saturday.
