NACOGDOCHES, Texas _ An offensive drought early in the second half did in the University of Central Arkansas Bears on Wednesday night in a 75-63 loss to Stephen F. Austin in Southland Conference action at Johnson Coliseum.
The Bears (4-11, 0-2) had closed a seven-point halftime deficit to just one point early in the half, but then went nearly nine minutes without a field goal as the Lumberjacks (10-4, 1-1) ran out to a 17-point lead. The closest the Bears would get the rest of the way was 10 points on senior guard Mike Pouncy’s jumper with 7:00 remaining.
SFA, leading the nation in scoring defense at 52.3 points per game, used that stifling defense to hold the Bears to 37.9 percent shooting in the second half.
“Our guys fought and stayed in there in the first half,’ said UCA head coach Corliss Williamson. “I thought we had some missed opportunities but Dewan (Clayborn) hit the big three before the half. But then we had that stretch in the second half, probably eight minutes when we didn’t score a basket and gave up a 16-0 run.
"You just can’t do that against a good team that’s as sound defensively as Stephen F. Austin is. We really put ourselves in a bad position to find a way to win in the second half.’
The Bears hung close in the first half, getting eight points from Pouncy and seven more from junior guard Dewan Clayborn. SFA shot 51.9 percent in the first half and outrebounded UCA 20-11 but could not put the Bears away.
Clayborn’s second three-pointer of the half with just five seconds left drew the Bears within 36-29 at the break.
“We were pleased with their effort, the way they stuck with our game plan,’ said Williamson. “Up to that point, we felt confident that we had a chance and we were in the game and had a chance to win the game.’
UCA quickly closed that gap in the second half as Clayborn nailed another three-pointer, added a free throw, and Chris Henson put in a rebound to make it 38-37 less than four minutes into the half. The ‘Jacks then reeled off the next 16 consecutive points to push their lead to 54-37.
UCA had five players in double figures, led by Pouncy and Clayborn with 14 apiece. Rutledge added 11 and Imad Qahwash and Tadre Sheppard scored 10 each.
Mike’s approach to practice these last few practices has been wonderful,’ said Williamson. “It seems like a lightbulb has gone off in his head and he’s not worried about is foot anymore. He understands this is his senior year and he’s really been pressing and pushing our guys to get better. It definitely showed tonight.
“We hope he can continue to build on what he did tonight and the rest of his teammates can step up their intensity as well.’
Senior center Jordan Glynn led the Lumberjacks with 21 points and 15 rebounds as SFA outrebounded UCA 43-23. Jereal Scott added 10 points for SFA. The ‘Jacks shot 51 percent for the game and made 20 of 26 (76.9 percent) at the free-throw line.
“You just can’t get beat on the boards 43-23 and give up 15 offensive rebounds,’ Williamson said. “That’s a killer right there. We talked about it before the game, this team was physical and was going to crash the offensive boards. We didn’t match their intensity.’
UCA returns home Saturday, hosting Northwestern State at 4 p.m. at the Farris Center.
