CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears are coming off their highest scoring game of the season, a 107-97 victory over Northwestern State on Thursday night at the Farris Center.

    The points may be a little harder to come by in their next outing, a Saturday afternoon matchup with the Southeastern Louisiana Lions at the Farris Center. The Lions (13-10, 6-4) have one of the top defenses in the Southland Conference, and the best in at least one category. SLU is leading the conference in points allowed at 68.1 per game. The Lions are also second in the SLC in opponent's field goal percentage (43 percent), opponent's three-point percentage (32.7 percent) and third in rebound margin (+4.2 per game).

    The Bears (5-18, 4-6) had five players score in double figures against the Demons, for the first time this season. Junior guard Jordan Howard scored 33 points, one short of his season high, while senior Derreck Brooks added 22 and junior Mathieu Kamba had 16. The Bears also had a pair of double-figure games off the bench from senior Jeff Lowery (11) and freshman Darraja Parnell (12).

    UCA shot a season-high 56.3 percent from the field, made 11 of 25 from three-point range and had a season-high 26 assists, including a career-high nine from Brooks.

    The Bears will need a similar offensive showing against the Lions, who are coming off a dominating 72-44 win over the Nicholls Colonels on Thursday night in Hammond, a game in which they outscored the Colonels 47-18 in the second half. 

    As has been the rule around the league this season, the Lions have been good at home (10-1) and not so good on the road (3-9). Home teams in the SLC this season are 44-19, a statistic the Bears hope to make even more one-sided on Saturday.

    The Bears and Lions split their two meetings last season, with the home team winning both games rather easily. UCA won 88-72 at Farris and SLU won 75-56 at the University Center. The Bears shot 52 percent from the field in the victory and 33.3 percent in the loss. UCA had five players in double figures in the first meeting, led by Howard's 24 points, but just two in the second matchup. Howard scored 11 and Kamba 10.

    Davon Hayes leads the Lions in scoring at 13.4 points per game, while Howard tops the Bears at 19.9, good for second in the conference. Howard is also No. 1 in three-pointers made (75), three-point percentage (46.9) and free-throw percentage (92.2). UCA has the best free-throw percentage in the league as a team at 73.7 percent.   

    The Bears have won the past three games with the Lions at the Farris Center and holds a 6-4 home advantage against SLU since joining the league in 2006-07.

    Tipoff will be approximately 4 p.m. following the UCA-SLU women's game at 2 p.m.