NACOGDOCHES, Texas _ Fresh off a convincing victory over Lamar on Saturday, the University of Central Arkansas now face a much tougher task on Tuesday, taking on perennial Southland Conference power Stephen F. Austin.

    The Bears (2-11, 1-2) and Lumberjacks (9-5, 2-0) will meet at 7 p.m. at William Johnson Coliseum.

    UCA recorded its second victory of the season on Saturday, and first in league play, behind a 24-point effort by junior guard Derreck Brooks and solid defense that held the Cardinals to just 29.9 percent shooting from the field. The Bears, tied 31-31 at halftime, shot 57.6 percent from the field in the second half and scored a season-high 62 points in the final 20 minutes to pull away to a 93-76 victory at the Farris Center.

    "We were obviously excited about the win over Lamar,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. "My assessment of the game was, I thought from the opening tip to the final horn, we were pretty consistent. We didn't have that 8- to 10-minute lull that we've had at times. That's kind of what got us beat at (Texas A&M) Corpus Christi.

    "And I've seen this over about the last month or so, there's more of a seriousness about our team. And when people talk about learning how to win, that's what they are talking about. It's being intelligent, it's being focused, it's being single-minded during a season. It's not letting outside distractions get in your way. It's preparation. And it seems like it's starting to come together for this team.'     

    The Lumberjacks, winners of three consecutive SLC regular-season titles, are 9-5 overall, with losses to Baylor, Northern Iowa, Tulane, Arizona State and UAB. They own conference victories over McNeese State (86-57) and Southeastern Louisiana (89-69) and last played last Wednesday.

    "Here's what I know about basketball,' said Pennell. "What happened last game has zero bearing on tomorrow night. Zero. People always say, 'ah, they're playing good.' It's a different game, tomorrow night is a different game. It's a different team, a different style, a different city, we ate different food, slept in a different bed. All those things are different.

    "What you take from the last game is this...we did it, we can do it, we've done it, look what we did. And that ought to give you confidence. But you step into tomorrow night, and it's all different.'      

    The Bears will play four of their next five games on the road, beginning Tuesday.  UCA has never beaten SFA (0-13) since moving into the Southland Conference in 2006-07. The Lumberjacks feature the top scoring defense in the league, allowing an average of 67.7 points per game and feature the top scoring margin at +9.6 points. 

    UCA averages 71.1 points per game after the 93-point outburst against Lamar. Five players scored in double figures for the Bears, with sophomore Mathieu Kamba following Brooks with 18 points (7 of 11 from the field). Sophomore Jordan Howard added 15 points, while seniors Justin Foreman and Jeff Lowery had 12 and 11, respectively.

    The Bears also cured one of their recent woes by shooting 75.8 percent from the free-throw line, including 22 of 24 (91.7 percent) in the second half. UCA also tied its season high with 18 assists, with six from Howard and five from Brooks. The Bears had seven players with at least four rebounds, led by Brooks with 9 and Howard and Jake Zuilhof with eight apiece.

    The Lumberjacks are led by last year's SLC Player of the Year Thomas Walkup, who is ninth in the league in scoring (14.6), seventh in rebounding (6.6) and seventh in field-goal percentage (54.7). UCA's Howard is third in scoring (17.2), first in three-pointers made (42), third in three-point percentage (43.8) and fifth in free-throw percentage (85.4) after making 16 of 16 in the past two games.

    Kamba had back-to-back games of 17 and 18 points and shot 66 percent from the field (14 of 21) over that span. He is now fourth in the SLC in field-goal percentage at 55.7 percent. Brooks did a little of everything in the win over Lamar with 24 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots. Lamar entered the game as the top scoring team in the league.

    "We've won two games, and that's not anything to write home about,' said Pennell. "But I do think we're progressing and I think we're starting to turn the corner. We'll find out a lot tomorrow night, going down to play against a team that's picked to win it, three-time champ and all the other stuff that goes along with them.

      "We need to go down there and be really competitive and give ourselves a chance.'  

    UCA will have a week off before hosting Houston Baptist at 7 p.m. next Tuesday.