CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears did just about everything right Monday night in running past the Northwestern State Demons 107-94 in Southland Conference action at the Farris Center.

    Six Bears scored in double figures and three had double-doubles as the Bears (6-16, 5-7) won their third consecutive home game. Senior forward Justin Foreman led the charge with career highs in both points (22) and rebounds (11). Sophomore guard Mathieu Kamba finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while graduate center Jake Zuilhof had 15 points and 10 rebounds.

    UCA shot 55.1 percent from the field, including 61.3 percent in the second half. The Bears finished with 52 points in the paint, won the rebound battle 49-34 and finished with 24 assists.

    "I thought it was a great college basketball game,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. "If you like action, it went up and down a lot. It seems like every time we play Northwestern State, an NBA game breaks out. We've had some really high-scoring games with them.

    "But I thought the guys played well tonight. We just did a tremendous job on the glass. We had really balanced scoring. And what I like is, when people try to take Jordan (Howard) out of the game _ and they did a pretty good job tonight _ other guys are stepping up. And that's really the way we'd like to play, to have a little more balance like we had tonight.' 

    The Bears, who lost to the Demons 91-75 earlier this season in Natchitoches, La., ran out to a 49-39 halftime lead and trailed only twice in the game, both in the first two minutes of action. UCA's defense held NSU to just 33.3 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes. Kamba scored 14 of his points in the opening half.

    The Bears then opened the second half with a 12-2 run to push out to a 61-41 lead less than four minutes into the half. The Demons, who made a season-high 16 three-pointers in the game, stay within striking distance by hitting from the perimeter. Sabri Thompson led NSU with 25 points, hitting six threes. But UCA's balance kept the Demons from getting any closer than seven points down the stretch.

    After NSU's Tra'von Joseph hit an three-pointer with 1:36 to play to cut the deficit to 99-92, UCA scored eight of the final 10 points, including a clinching slam dunk by Foreman off a nifty save of a loose ball by Jeff Lowery. 

    "You know, if a team is going to take 43 threes, more power to them,' said Pennell. "We just need to get a hand up. I thought we had a couple of breakdowns, but they're a fine shooting team. But you have to make a lot of those.

    "And I thought what we did, we attacked the bucket and got easy shots and forced them into some tougher ones. Fortunately we did a great job on the backboards. And that's really kind of been the recipe right now.'

    Howard, the No. 2 scorer in the SLC who had 37 points in the first meeting, had an off shooting night but still finished with 19 points and 8 assists. Lowery and junior guard Derreck Brooks added 12 points each, with Lowery finishing with 5 assists.

    "He (Foreman) really had a great focus before the game,' said Pennell. "He had the guys in the locker room ready to go. I even saw him, right after introductions call them all in. He was kind of running the show tonight. And I love when Justin has that look. We've been challenging him to rebound more and boy, tonight he was active. I'm really, really happy for him.'

    The Bears made 23 of 36 at the free-throw line, with Howard hitting 8 of 9 and Zuilhof going 7 for 8. NSU was 24 of 28 (85.7 percent). Devonte Hall finished with 16 points and 14 assists for the Demons. The Bears had a 24 to 8 assist-to-turnover ratio, with no player having more than two turnovers. 
    
    UCA returns to the road for a Saturday matchup at Sam Houston State in Huntsville, Texas.