NACOGDOCHES, Texas _ The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks got 32 points from senior Thomas Walkup and made 33 trips to the free-throw line Tuesday night in an 85-64 victory over the University of Central Arkansas Bears in Southland Conference action at Johnson Coliseum.

    Walkup topped his season high of 30 points, shooting 10 of 13 from the field and 11 of 14 from the line to lead SFA to its third consecutive victory and 14th in a row against UCA. The Lumberjacks (10-5, 3-0) made 22 of 33 at the line while the Bears were just 3 of 7. Turnovers were also costly to the Bears, who committed 24, with the Lumberjacks scoring 29 points from them.

    "It was a physical game and we were up for it for the most part,' said UCA associate head coach Anthony Boone. "But we just couldn't handle the ball well enough. We turned the ball over quite a bit and shot ourselves in the foot. Because we shot the ball well from the field. If we had could have gotten the same number of possessions that they had, it might have been a different game.'  

    The Bears (2-12, 1-3) fell behind by as much as nine points just four minutes into the game but fought back to cut the deficit to just two points at 20-18 on back-to-back three-pointers by Jordan Howard and Derreck Brooks with 7:30 left in the first half. UCA stayed within striking distance the remainder of the half and closed it to 34-29 on Howard's layup with 21 seconds left. But SFA's Dallas Cameron nailed a three at the buzzer to send the Lumberjacks to the locker room with a 37-29 lead.

    "We handled the ball during that stretch,' said Boone. "That was the main difference. They hit some tough shots early on and we just told our guys, we're playing good defense. We just couldn't turn the ball over that much.'

    UCA had 12 turnovers in the first half and were called for 10 fouls compared to five for SFA. UCA outrebounded SFA 19-13 in the opening half, with Brooks pulling down five. The game got away from the Bears early in the second half as the Lumberjacks continued to hit from the free-throw line and Walkup added to his total. UCA head coach Russ Pennell was ejected with 13:33 left to play protesting the lack of a goal tending call. Walkup made all four free throws resulting from the two technical fouls.

    "Like Little Rock, they hang their hat on defense,' said Boone. "But unlike Little Rock, they pressure a lot. They get out on you and make passes an adventure. It's hard to pass the ball, it's hard to move the ball around against them. And we just didn't handle that as well as we needed to to have a chance to win tonight.'

    Howard topped the Bears with 19 points, hitting 5 of 11 from three-point range, giving him at least one three-pointer in 28 consecutive games and double figures in 41 of his 43 games at UCA. Brooks had 16 points and led all rebounders with 13, including five on the offensive end. UCA finished with 26 personal fouls, with five players finishing with four apiece. SFA had 12, with only one player getting more than two.

    The Bears outrebounded the Lumberjacks 37-33 and pulled down 13 offensive rebounds.

    UCA returns home next Tuesday, hosting Houston Baptist at 7 p.m. at the Farris Center.