LAS VEGAS _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears outscored the UTSA Roadrunners 60-43 in the second half on Monday to win going away 98-84 in the "Men Who Speak Up" Main Event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The Bears had six players score in double figures for the first time since 2004. UCA's leading scorer entering the game Derreck Brooks was not one of those after battling foul trouble all afternoon. Senior guard Justin Foreman led the way with 21 points, including a 4-of-6 performance from beyond the three-point line. Sophomore guard Jordan Howard had 17 points, hitting 3 of 4 threes, while sophomore forward Mathieu Kamba added 15 points.
Junior guard Jeff Lowery had 14 points and 5 assists and senior center Jake Zuilhof and senior guard Mike Martin had 12 points each, with Martin adding 5 assists. UCA, now 1-3, did not win its first game until February 7 last season.
"They guys just played really well,' said UCA second-year head coach Russ Pennell. "It's funny because if you went in there (to the locker room), you would have thought we won the national championship. I actually told (UTSA coach) Brooks Thompson, 'I apologize for our actions, but we haven't won very much.' And I coached Brooks at Oklahoma State so we go way back. He said. 'Coach I'm proud of you.
"But I told them, celebrate, that's what it's all about, to hear your team have fun after a win.'
The Bears (1-3) trailed 41-38 at halftime but turned around and shot a blistering 63.6 from the field in the final 20 minutes and made 5 of 7 (71.4 percent) from three-point range. For the game, UCA shot 57.1 percent overall, 53.8 percent from beyond the arc and 86.4 percent from the free-throw line. The Bears also outrebounded the Roadrunners 31-27 and had just nine turnovers while forcing 15. UCA's biggest lead came on the final score of the game when Kamba finished it off with a slam dunk.
Brooks, a junior from Portland, Ore., came in averaging 18 points a game for the Bears but was held to 4 points in just 12 minutes of action, fouling out with six minutes to play. Foreman more than took up the slack with his season-high 21 points.
"I tell you what was funny,' said Pennell, "He missed his first one and I made the comment to our staff, 'I don't know why he's settling for that three, he hasn't made one in three weeks.' And I was being facetious, but after that he got on fire. And I said, if that's what it takes, I'm going to say that before every game.
"But Justin really stepped up. And the thing I think I'm the happiest about is that we did win without Derreck. Because Derreck is a big, big part of what we're doing, and to be able to do what we did without him, I thought was really good.'
Martin, a senior guard from Wichita, Kan., provided key minutes off the bench on both ends of the floor, helping hold UTSA's leading scorer Ryan Bowie to 17 points. Bowie was coming off a 33-point outing against Southern Utah.
"We really challenged Mike before the game,' Pennell said. "We said when he came in he was going to guard Bowie. Mike is one of those guys that, when he's presented with a challenge, he's actually better. And I thought he made some great defensive plays, just keeping his man from catching the ball. But how about a couple of his passes and a couple of his shots. He just played a very complete game.'
The Bears will now face Howard, an 87-81 winner over Texas Southern, in the Middleweight Division championship game at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
"My dad texted me after the UMass game,' Pennell said. "He told me, they'll win when they get sick of losing. And that's the wisdom of a guy who coached 45 years. And that sounds so simple, but it's really true. When you get sick of losing, you start doing all the little things that you've been coached to do. I saw that in the Rutgers game, and I certainly saw it today.
"It's a start. And when you 're building the program like we're doing, you have to have some success. But like I told them, this tastes good but I'm still thirsty. We're making progress. We're not going to read too much into it, but for today, it's very good in Bear land.'
