THIBODAUX, La. _ Career highs from junior Derreck Brooks and sophomore Mathieu Kamba carried the Univesrity of Central Arkansas Bears to a 94-83 victory over the Nicholls Colonels in Southland Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Stopher Gym.

    The Bears (3-13, 2-4), who won their first true road game in two seasons, overcame a five-point halftime deficit by outscoring the Colonels 52-36 in the second half. UCA connected on 10 of 20 from three-point range, with Brooks going 5 for 7 for a career-high 29 points. Kamba made his first three-pointer of the season and finished with a career-high 21 points.

    Sophomore guard Jordan Howard addded 16 points (2 of 3 from three-point range) as UCA shot 53.7 from the field for the game. Brooks finished 11 of 16 from the field and topped his prevoius career high of 25 set in his first game, the season opener at Tulsa. Kamba's previous best was 18 points on two occasions. UCA's starting five of Howard, Kamba, Brooks, Jeff Lowery and Jake Zuilhof combined for 85 of the Bears' 94 points. 

    "The thing I was proudest of today, I thought from the opening tip, we played a complete game,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. "We got behind early and then hit some incredible shots. I thought our poise was very evident, and we had some players step up and make some big plays at big moments, and that was a lot of fun.'

    Senior Justin Foreman made arguably the biggest three-pointer of the game for the Bears when he beat the shot clock and nailed one from in front of UCA's bench with 1:10 to play to push the lead to 85-80. The Colonels (5-15, 1-5) had put together a 12-1 that cut the Bears' lead from 14 points to just two. 

    "Every time at Grand Canyon (University), when we needed a big three, that guy would hit it,' said Pennell. "And he's not a great three-point shooter, But we he loaded that one up to shoot it, I was standing by (athletic trainer) Steve Hornor and I said 'count it. I just had a feeling. I've just seen it so many times. He can miss eight in a row, but he'll hit the one that counts. He's just a winner who figures out a way to get the ball in the basket.'

    From there, Jeff Lowery made two free throws and a layup, Brooks made a pair at the line. Howard made one free throw on a technical foul on Nicholls and UCA forced a couple of turnovers. Kamba then finished off the game with a slam dunk in the final seconds.

    "Those two guys (Brooks, Kamba) are what I call mismatch players,' said Pennell. "They're hard to guard because they both have good length, and they both shoot it fairly well. Derreck shoots it a little better, but Mathieu is a tough guy to guard in the post. When they are on, it gives us so much more freedom. If we can keep getting the consistency out of them, we're going in the right direction.'

    UCA fell behind 10-2 to start the game before Brooks used a UCA timeout to rally his teammates before they ever made it off the floor to the bench. Scoring eight straight points, including consecutive three-pointers, Brooks helped the Bears tie it at 12-12 with 14:30 left in the first half. Three-pointers from Kamba and Brooks gave the Bears a 22-18 lead before Nicholls' T.J. Carpenter hit four straight from beyond the three-point line to give the Colonels a 47-42 halftime lead. 

    Brooks hit his first seven shots of the game and had 17 first-half points. UCA shot 56.3 percent overall in the first half and made 6 of 10 from three-point range, 3 of 4 from Brooks. 

    "I want our guys to play with an urgency,' said Pennell. "I try to tell them that every play in a basketball game could be that play. And I thought tonight they played with much more of an urgency.  The fact that we've lost so much in this year and a half, I think sometimes doubt slips in. Even though they believe us when we talk about it's going to get better, at some points you're like "Coach when, when?'

    "But then when you get a win like UTSA, a Conference USA team, and a home win over Lamar, that had been playing really well, then it gives you hope. Then to get a road win, it's give you even more and let's you see where you are going.'

    UCA continues its road trip at Monday night against New Orleans at Lakefront Arena.