With five games remaining in the regular season and a one-game lead in the race for the Southland Conference championship, Central Arkansas begins a pivotal three-game home stand on Saturday when the Sugar Bears host Oral Roberts at 2 p.m. in the Farris Center.

The Sugar Bears (16-8, 10-3 Southland) will square off against a Golden Eagles (7-16, 6-7) team that is trying to fight its way into the conference tournament picture, currently sitting in 10th place in the league standings among tournament-eligible teams.

At 10-3, UCA is a game ahead of Lamar at 9-4, followed by McNeese State, Stephen F. Austin and Nicholls at 8-5. Northwestern State and Southeastern Louisiana are both 7-6, trailed closely by A&M-Corpus Christi and Houston Baptist at 7-7. Sam Houston State and ORU are at the bottom of the pack for postseason-eligible teams at 6-7. Abilene Christian is 5-5, Incarnate Word 2-9 and New Orleans 0-14, with all three being ineligible for postseason play due to Division I reclassification rules.

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LIVE STATS


THE SERIES
The Sugar Bears have lost all seven meetings with ORU since moving to Division I in 2006, though did win 109-66 in 1989. The Golden Eagles won this season's first meeting 70-60 in Tulsa on January 11. In that game, the Sugar Bears fell behind by as many as 12 after a first half in which ORU shot 66.7 percent from the field, but trailed by only three with under three minutes to play. The Golden Eagles closed the game out by outscoring UCA 9-2 down the stretch, with the Sugar Bears getting only one field goal in the final 4:30.

Courtney Duever had a game-high 16 points in the loss, also adding 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals and an assist. Maggie Proffitt had 13 points and Terai Sadler 12 for the Sugar Bears. Alexus Wilson had 13 points and 7 rebounds to lead the Golden Eagles. Dorottya Balla had 13 points, and Bernadett Balla had 10 points and 9 rebounds.

LAST TIME OUT
UCA
The Sugar Bears won in the final seconds at Houston Baptist, with Courtney Duever knocking down a baseline jumper over HBU's Shanice Steenholdt with three seconds left for the deciding basket in the 57-55 victory. Duever finished with 16 points and 9 rebounds. Maggie Proffitt had 12 points, Brittany Agee added 10, and Jameka Watkins contributed a career-high 8 assists.

ORU
The Golden Eagles lost 61-53 at A&M-Corpus Christi last Saturday, getting outscored 33-17 in the first half. ORU shot just 26.9 percent in the opening half, but rebounded with a 51.7 percent effort in the second half as they outscored AMCC 36-28, but could not overcome the halftime deficit. The Islanders hit 10 3-point field goals in the game, compared to just 3 (of 13 – 23.1 percent) for the Golden Eagles. Atoe' Jackson had 16 points and 10 rebounds in the loss for ORU, and Christian Key had 15 points.


STATS OF NOTE
— Courtney Duever leads the Sugar Bears with 14.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game for the season, including averages of 16.7 and 10.2 in conference play – one of just four Southland players to average a double-double during the conference season. Sam Houston State's Angela Beadle is averaging 16.1 and 11.0, Southeastern Louisiana's Nanna Pool averages 11.5 in each category, and Abilene Christian's Suzzy Dimba averages 11.3 and 10.1

— Maggie Proffitt is the Southland's leading 3-point shooter for the season at 43.1 percent, sporting a league-best 47.2 percent in conference games. She is the 4th-leading scorer among Southland freshmen at 10.8 points per game. ORU's Kaylan Mayberry, daughter of former NBA veteran and Arkansas Razorback star Lee Mayberry, is 3rd at 11.0 points per game.

— At 56.3 points per game, the Sugar Bears are 12th nationally in scoring defense. They have held 13 opponents to fewer than 60 points this season, with eight being 50 or fewer. In defeating New Orleans 62-30 two weeks ago the Sugar Bears held a team to the lowest point total in a Southland conference game since UT Arlington held Nicholls to the same amount on March 4, 2005. It also broke the Central Arkansas record for fewest points allowed to a Division I opponent, eclipsing the old mark of 37 set twice – against UT Arlington on Feb. 6, 2011 and at Lamar on Jan. 7, 2012. It was also the fewest points allowed by the Sugar Bears to any opponent since giving up just 21 to Central Baptist (NAIA) on Dec. 4, 2012.

— Saturday's game will pit two of the league's top free throw and 3-point shooting teams against one another as the Sugar Bears top the conference with a 74.6 free throw percentage while ORU is 3rd at 73.0. The Sugar Bears' 35.4 3-point percentage ranks 2nd in the Southland, just behind Northwestern State's 35.6. Oral Roberts is 3rd at 33.7.