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CONWAY, Ark. _ Three University of Central Arkansas Bears will play for the final time on their home court at the Farris Center on Saturday afternoon.
Seniors Jarvis Garner, Robert Crawford and Anthony Borden will be playing for the final time in Conway against Oral Roberts at 4:30 Saturday, but not for the final time this season. That trio, along with their teammates, will be playing in next week’s Southland Conference Tournament for the first time.
UCA has earned its first berth in the tournament since moving to NCAA Division I and into the SLC in 2006-07. The Bears are currently tied for eighth place with McNeese State, which finishes on the road at Nicholls State on Saturday. UCA owns the tiebreaker over McNeese, so only has to match the Cowboys’ outcome on Saturday to receive the No. 7 seed.
The No. 8 seed faces No. 5 and the Nos. 6 and 7 meet in the first round on Wednesday the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.
Garner and Crawford are two of the most prolific scorers in the Southland Conference this season, ranking fifth and seventh, respectively, in scoring. Garner, a 6-foot-7 forward from Conway High School, averages 15.4 points, while Crawford, from Broken Arrow, Okla., and Tulsa Victory Christian High School, is at 14.9.
That duo has also combined for the top three individual scoring games in the league this season. Crawford scored 39 points in a road win over Southeast Missouri on Dec. 8, while Garner scored 38 points twice, against Central Baptist on Dec. 31 and again against McNeese State on Jan. 24.
Borden, a 6-10 center from West Memphis, sat out the first semester but has been a solid force inside over the past 20 games, averaging 7.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots per game.
“It’s been a joy to work with these young men,’ said UCA head coach Corliss Williamson. “They all came in from junior college, and the first year here was different for them to get acclimated to D-I and our style of play. But they’ve worked extremely hard. I’m really proud of their effort and progression they’ve made from Year 1 to this year. They will certainly be missed.
“They are all three playing well for us down the stretch, heading into the tournament. They are a big reason we are going to the tournament.’
Crawford actually signed with UCA in 2008 but redshirted as a freshman before transferring to Connors State for two seasons. He returned to UCA in 2011-12 and is now seventh in career three-pointers made (118) and second in season three-pointers (81 this season) in just two seasons of action.
“I think making the tournament for the first time was the best thing about this season,’ said Crawford. “We literally started from the bottom. Our goal was to boost this program up and get it going again. It says something about this group of guys to be the team to do it first. We accomplished something, making this tournament. Now we want to go there and shake it up and make something happen when we get there.’
Garner has been as good a clutch shooter as UCA has seen in quite some time. The former Wampus Cat, who transferred to UCA from Connors State, made a long three-pointer to beat Henderson State last season in the Farris Center, then turned the trick twice against McNeese State back in January. He made a 30-footer to send the game to its first overtime, then hit another a few steps in to bring on a second OT in a game UCA eventually won in triple overtime.
“It’s going to be exciting playing this last game in the city where I’m from, where I’ve continued to grow as a person and player,’ said Garner. “Not just for me, but this team. We’ve started to build a winning program. I really can’t explain, it’s mind-blowing being able to come back in front of people I played in front of when I was 10 or 11, now they get to see me as a grown man.
“And being able to play with a team doing as good as we are makes it all the better.’
Borden is tied for fourth in career blocked shots at UCA with 75. His single-season total of 40 this season ranks sixth.
“It feels really good to make the tournament,’ said Borden. “Hopefully when I leave they do the same thing next year and keep building the program. I want to thank our crowd, give them thanks, because if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be in the situation where we’re at now. The support has been really good.’
The Bears, in their seventh year of Division I and just their third year of eligiblity for postseason play, have won more SLC games than any previous team, and could, with a win over Oral Roberts, enter the postseason tournament with a four-game winning streak.
“We set goals early in year talked aout improving record at home and in conference play,’ said Williamson. “Our No. 1 goal was to make conference tournament and to have achieved that goal is a great feeling. It definitely makes us hungry. We want more, we don’t just want to make it to the tournament want to be competitive and see how far we can go.
“Hopefully this is the start of tradition where we’re consistently known as a team going to be in the tournament every year.’
The Bears will open tournament play at either 5 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
But first they have one last hurrah in the Farris Center, in front of their home crowd.
“The fan support has been really good this year,’ said Crawford. “We always come out of the tunnel and look to see if they raised the curtain or not ,and most of the time they year, they have. The Arkansas State game was probably the most people I’ve seen since I’ve been a part of this program, just a great atmosphere.’
The Bears and Golden Eagles tip off at approximately 4:30, with “Senior Day” ceremonies prior to the game.
