CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears tasted victory for the first time this season on Saturday afternoon, taking down the New Orleans Privateers 70-67 in dramatic fashion at the Farris Center.
The Bears, who never trailed in the game, broke a 19-game losing streak by holding the Privateers to 36 percent shooting and withstanding a late rally by UNO that cut a 16-point lead to nothing with two minutes to play. UCA then got two free throws from freshman Mathieu Kamba, followed by a huge block by the Calgary, Alberta, native on the defensive end. Freshman guard Jordan Howard then made 1 of 2 at the line and junior center Jake Zuilhof pulled down a defensive rebound to give the Bears their final margin of victory.
"I told the guys, we have the longest winning streak of the year,' quiped a relieved UCA head coach Russ Pennell. "I'm just really happy for these guys. When we first went into the locker room, I went straight to my office and just kind of stood back there and listened. Just the jubilance that was coming out of that locker room, you'd have thought we won the national championship.
"And you know what, that's the way you ought to celebrate. Sometimes we don't celebrate enough. And certainly this year, the (wins) haven't been coming. I want them to enjoy it today because they deserve it. They need to bask in their hard work because I'm really proud of them.'
The Bears (1-19, 1-8), who lost to the Privateers by 20 points less than two weeks ago in New Orleans, had three players in double figures, led by Howard with 20 points, his 19th double-figure game in 20 games as a Bear. Junior guard Mike Martin added 15 points and junior center Jake Zuilhof overcame foul trouble to finish with 14 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
"We were just ready to celebrate,' said Kamba, who had 9 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. "Finally. We've worked so hard. The Northwestern game was a big confidence booster and we just rolled that momentum into this game.'
The Bears took their biggest lead of the season, 18 points, at the 4:00 mark of the first half, and settled for a 36-24 margin at halftime. After hitting 13 three-pointers in Tuesday's 110-108 loss to Northwestern State, the Bears did not hit their first basket from beyond the arc until the 16:50 mark of the second half. UCA then knocked down two in a two-minute span to push its lead to 15 points. UCA was 4 of 7 from three-point range in the final 20 minutes.
But the Privateers (6-13, 2-8) fought back with repeated drives to the basket and eventually got back in the game. Kevin Brown's pair of free throws tied the game at 67-67 with 1:57 left, setting up the wild final minutes
.
"You felt like we were playing better and better the last two weeks,' said Pennell. "You know, we probably played well enough to beat Northwestern State and just didn't get it done. And tonight, even when they started making the comeback, I never did feel like the game was out of hand or out of reach.
"The one concern I had, when they cut it to two, our guys came over to the bench and kind of had a look like, man this is going the wrong way. I told them, you have to relax and not want to win so bad that is paralyzes you. I said, you're still ahead. Somebody's going to make a play. And I'll be danged if Mathieu Kamba doesn't come out of nowhere and block a shot.
"That's the way you win tight ball games. In the future, I hope we're playing a lot of games where it's 2-3 points down the stretch, because that means we have a chance of having a great year.'
New Orleans was 27 of 75 (36 percent) and had just six assists in the game.
The win was a long time coming for a team that featured only one returnee from last year's squad, along with a new coaching staff. How did it feel for the players?
"It felt even better that I thought it would,' said Zuilhof. "I've almost forgotten what it felt like. It's always been a struggle this year, but luckily we finally broke through. We knew it was going to happen someday, and we knew we had the right guys here. It finally came together for us.'
The Bears, with their newfound confidence, have nine games remaining, beginning on Tuesday against Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond, La.
"It feels like a different team,' said Howard, "just the defense, the energy. That's where it started, the defense. Coach said they shot 36 percent and that's really where our emphasis was. Start on defense and let the offense come. Coach just comes in every day and makes sure we work hard. He treats it like we're 19-0. You just have to look forward to the next game.'
