THIBODAUX, La. _  The University of Central Arkansas Bears put together a solid second half Thursday night, outscoring the Nicholls Colonels 46-37, but it was not enough to overcome an ice-cold first half.

    The home team ran out to a 40-24 halftime lead and ended up needing every bit of it as the Bears cut an 18-point deficit to just two points with 33 seconds to play before falling 77-70 at Stopher Gym.

    UCA (2-26, 2-15) got a career-high 18 points from freshman guard Mathieu Kamba and 16 points from fellow freshman guard Jordan Howard. The Bears managed to make it close despite shooting just 30.6 percent from the field and going 5 for 20 from three-point range.

    "We just dug ourselves too big a hole,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. "I just told the guys, if we would play with the urgency the way we did the last 15 minutes the whole game, we would be a different basketball team. I think the best term is we were desperate. We were behind, we didn't want to lose. And we fought back.

    "We had some guys come in, Joel Fiegler, Otas (Iyekekpolor), they came in and gave us some really good minutes. They really didn't do a lot expect play really hard. And that's what I'm trying to get across. And I was proud of that. We're not into moral victories. But the big thing is, I thought we had a look about us in that second half of a basketball team that can be pretty good in time.'

    The teams were tied at halftime in the first meeting back in January in Conway. But Thursday night, the hot-shooting Colonels ran out to as much as an 18-point lead before halftime. The Bears shot just 28.6 percent from the field in the first half, including 1 of 8 from three-point range. The Colonels were hot, hitting 66.7 overall from the field.
    
    UCA was within 13-10 at the 14:22 mark after Jake Zuilhof's layup. But the Colonels found their rhythm from there and outscored the Bears 27-14 the rest of the half.  

    The second half was a different story, even though they Bears still did not shoot well (32.4 percent). UCA was 20 of 23 at the free-throw line in the second half, which helped to make it close down the stretch. For the game, UCA was 27 of 33 (81.8 percent). Nicholls was 28 of 42 in a game that had 47 fouls.

    "I was happy with our fight,' said Pennell. "We just shot the ball horribly again. I'm not sure the reason for that. It may just be weary and tired. But again, it just shows if you keep your turnovers low _ we only had 12 _ and we forced a bunch of turnovers. You give yourself more opportunities, you can shoot a lower percentage.'

    Kamba finished 7 of 10 from the field, topping his career best of 16 points. Howard, the leading three-point shooter in the Southland Conference, made three on the night. Junior guard Mike Martin went 7 of 7 from the free-throw line for 10 points. UCA forced 22 turnovers and had 11 steals. Boo Milligan had 8 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

    "Mathieu got two quick fouls and I had to pull him out in the first half, which will always break a player's rhythm a little bit,' said Pennell. "But I thought that second half, he came out and had a look about him. I thought the last 10 minutes, he took this game over and was the best player on the floor.'

    UCA finishes the season with a matchup with McNeese State at 1 p.m. Sunday in Lake Charles, La.