ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears saw an early nine-point lead fade as the New Mexico Lobos utilized their superior size to pull away to a 76-55 victory before a crowd of 13,117 at The Pit.

    The Bears (0-9), playing their seventh road game in nine total games this season, controlled the opening 10 minutes of the game but hit a scoring drought late in the half that eventually cost them the game.

    "I liked the way our guys came out tonight,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. "They didn't look intimidated at all and they played hard and played well early. I liked the energy we had at the start of the game.

    "But their size and athleticism just wore us down. They were bringing in 7-footers and 6-10s. We just don't have those kind of guys yet. We need more time in the weight room to get bigger and stronger. But I liked that we didn't back down from them. We fought hard and did some good things.'

    The Bears ran out to an early 11-3 lead as Mike Martin hit a pair of three-pointers and Jordan Howard added another. UCA held that lead until the 11:30 mark when Albert Christensson made a free throw for a 17-12 lead. But the Lobos put together a 14-0 run over the next five minutes to grab a 25-17 lead.

    The Bears went 6:30 without a field goal before Christensson scored inside and Howard added a jumper to draw UCA back to 25-21 with 5:30 to play in the first half. After UCA closed it to 29-25 on Boo Milligan's driving basket with 3:50 to play, UNM responded with a three-pointer from Hugh Greenwood. Howard answered 30 seconds later for UCA to make it 32-28 with 2:50 to play.

    A pair of free throws by the Lobos _ who shot 14 to UCA's six in the first half _ came just before Howard turned a steal into a pull-up jumper to keep the Bears close at 34-30 heading into the final minute. UNM added one final free throw to set the halftime margin at 35-30.

    Howard topped the Bears with 10 first-half points. UCA finished with five players in double figures for the second time this season, as Milligan had 11 points and Martin, Albert Christensson and Jake Zuilhof added 10 apiece.

    The Bears shot just 34.5 from the field in the second half as the Lobos pulled away, including 1 of 11 from three-point range while playing catch up. The Lobos shot 50 percent from the field in the second half and pulled down 26 of their 46 rebounds. UNM outrebounded UCA 46-29, with 17 of those coming on the offensive end.

    For the game, UCA was 9 of 11 from the three-throw line while UNM connected on 16 of 31. The Bears had 22 fouls, with both Zuilhof and Joel Fiegler fouling out. UNM had 11 total fouls. Deshawn Delaney led the Lobos with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Greenwood hit 4 of 6 from three-point range and scored 14.

    UCA returns home for two consecutive games, beginning with Coastal Carolina at 12:30 Sunday at the Farris Center.