NEW ORLEANS, La. _ A hungry band of New Orleans Privateers rallied in the second half behind a 12-1 scoring run to down the University of Central Arkansas Bears 94-83 on Monday night in Southland Conference action at Lakefront Arena.

    The Bears (3-14,. 2-5) made a season-high 13 three-pointers but battled foul trouble for most of the night. UCA had three starters _ Jake Zuilhof, Justin Foreman, Mathieu Kamba _ foul out with only nine players dressed out. The Privateers (6-12, 2-5) made 19 of 25 free throws in the decisive second half, whle UCA was 6 of 11.

    "I told the guys this,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. "Part of our growth is our guys have to understand the mind of their opponent. I told them before the game, I said, you've got a desperate team in New Orleans. They are going to come out and hit you in the mouth early and they are going to try to run the ball down your throat.

    "And the crazy thing about that, I probably watched less film on New Orleans than anyone else. But I knew what they were going to do. And I'm not saying, oooh, look at me. But I told them, they have to start learning to trust us as coaches, and understand this team was 0-for, they had lost three home games, they were desperate. And that's probably the thing that disappointed me the most.

    "Yeah, I was happy we dug ourselves out of that hole. But to come out and get down 9-0 was ridiculous. And it was just because we weren't ready.'

     The Privateers jumped out 9-0 in the first 2:20 before UCA finally scored on Jake Zuilhof's inside basket and Jordan Howard's three-pointer. Zuilhof would finish with 11 rebounds, his second double-figure outing in the past three games. Howard would make 6 of his first 7 three-point attempts and go 7 for 11 from beyond the arc.

    A 9-0 run by the Bears, including threes from Howard and Derreck Brooks, tied the game at 27-27 with 6:40 left in the first half. The Privateers jumped back in front at 42-34 with 2:33 remaining but UCA outscored UNO 9-2 the rest of the way to get within 44-43 at halftime.

    "The first half we gave up way too many transition baskets,' said Pennell. "We just didn't get back very well, and I felt like that was going to be an issue. And I thought some of our turnovers were very careless. And it's kind of hard to win with out best players on the bench, and that was a factor in the second half.'

    The Bears came out and nailed five three-pointers in the opening five minutes of the second half to run out to a 57-52 lead. That lead reached nine points at 65-56 on Jeff Lowery's three-point play with 13:20 to play, but the Privateers fought back. Christavious Gill's layup with 7:27 remaining finally gave UNO a 71-70 lead, one they would not reliquish. 

    It was about that time the Bears were having trouble keeping players on the floor. Brooks went out with an injured ankle with 11:00 remainig and Howard followed with another ankle injury at the 8:00 mark. Kamba fouled out with 6:37 left, Justin Foreman left with 4:57 remaining and Zuilhof went out with his fifth at the 1:01 mark. Four other players finished the game with three fouls each.

    Howard and Brooks both returned to the floor and Howard led all scorers with 25 points, while Lowery added 17 points and 4 assists off the bench, and Brooks scored 16. UCA finished 13 of 26 (50 percent) from three-point range. UNO's Kevin Hill scored a season-high 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to pace six Privateers in double figures.

    UCA has a week off before heading to Natchitoches, La., to take on the Northwestern State Demons on Tuesday night.