HOUSTON, Texas _ So far, so good for the University of Central Arkansas Bears on their four-game road swing through the Southland Conference.

    Junior Jordan Howard tossed in 27 points and the Bears won their second consecutive game away from home, beating the Houston Baptist Huskies 89-78 before a television audience on Thursday night at HBU's Sharp Gymnasium. The Bears (4-13, 3-1) are just one of three league teams with only one conference loss, along with New Orleans (4-1) and Lamar (3-1). 

    UCA's "Big Three" of Howard, Derreck Brooks and Mathieu Kamba combined for 67 points in a game in which the Bears never trailed. Kamba and Brooks both finished with 20 points each, with Brooks going 4 of 6 from three-point range. The UCA lead was as much as 21 points in the first half and was never less than nine in the second half. 

    The Bears shot 51.6 percent from the field overall and made 10 of 18 (55.6 percent) from three-point range, including 5 of 8 from Howard. UCA was also 15 of 16 at the free-throw line, with Howard going 8 of 9 as the Bears handed the Huskies their first home loss of the season.

    "Winning on the road is a lot of fun, it really is,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell, in his third season at the school. "And I can see the benefits of playing the hard (non-conference) schedule. We just don't get rattled. We take time outs and sometimes I'm the one with the high blood pressure and those guys are cool as cucumbers. 

    "The thing I really like is how they are talking in the huddle. They are communicating, it's not just us (coaches) anymore. My dad has a saying, when players start coaching themselves is when you have good teams. And that means they have all the knowledge that you want in their heads and they start communicating. And I've seen that more and more with this team.'

    The Bears, who beat Abilene Christian last Thursday on the road, blitzed the Huskies in the first half, nailing 7 of 10 from three-point range, including one from junior Mathieu Kamba at the buzzer that was good for a 46-27 UCA halftime lead, by far the Bears' largest of the season. Howard was 5 of 5 from beyond the arc in the first half and reached his scoring average of 19 points in the opening 20 minutes. HBU's starting center, 6-foot-11 Josh Ibarra, was limited to just three minutes of action after two early fouls.

    "It's very rare when you have that kind of (halftime) lead on the road,' Pennell said. "This is my 27th year of coaching and it's happened a few times. And you always know what's going to happen. You know they are going to make a run at you. The thing I was most proud of was, they cut into our lead but it really wasn't anything we didn't do, they just made shots.

    "The first half, they didn't make shots. The second half, they made better shots. And their big boy (Ibarra) was in the game. It helped that he didn't play the first half. But I thought our guys held their poise. We made free throws and we did what we're supposed to do to get out of here with a road win. Like I tell them all the time, when you win on the road, it's almost like winning two.'

    The Huskies (7-8, 3-2), after being down 21 early in the second half, cut their deficit to just nine points in an inside basket by Ibarra with 5:58 to play. Ibarra finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for HBU. The Bears responded to that by pushing the lead back to 16 points on four consecutive free throws by Howard and a three-pointer by Brooks from the corner.

    A pair of free throws by Reveal Chukwujekwu with 20.5 seconds left made it a nine-point game once again but a steal by UCA's Ethan Lee turned into a dunk by Kamba on the other end to seal it.

    Colter Lasher led the Huskies with 19 points, 15 of those coming in the second half, while Chukwujekwu added 12 points and 10 rebounds. HBU shot 41.8 percent overall and just 27.3 percent (6 of 22) from three-point range, 2 of 10 in the first half.

    "The thing we'll have to guard against is, we win here on the road and now that almost puts more pressure to defend your home court,' said Pennell. 
    
    The Bears won't have to do that for awhile as they continue their road trip at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday night, then travel to Lake Charles, La. next Wednesday to take on the McNeese State Cowboys. UCA's next game at the Farris Center is against New Orleans on Jan. 21.