ST. LOUIS, Mo. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears rallied time and again Saturday afternoon but none of the flurries were enough to secure a victory over the Saint Louis Billikens, the preseason favorite in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

SLU (5-1) held off the Bears 73-61 in non-conference action at Chaifetz Arena, despite a career-high 22 points from UCA sophomore point guard DeAndre Jones.

The Bears (2-4) overcame a 13-point first-half deficit and closed to within one point four different times in the second half behind eight three-pointers by five different players. Trailing 26-13 at the 6:40 mark of the first half, the Bears put together a 17-8 run to close the half down just four points at 34-30.

The Bears, who made 6 of 10 from three-point range in the first half, hit just 2 of 15 from beyond the arc in the second half, but still kept it close until the final seven minutes when the Billikens iced it at the free-throw line. SLU, the worst free-throw shooting team in the Atlantic 10 Conference entering the game, made 10 of 13 free throws in the final 3:20, and 22 of 32 for the game. UCA was 13 of 18 at the line.

Jones, a sophomore from Boise, Idaho, finished 7 of 11 overall, 2 of 4 from three-point range and 6 of 6 at the free-throw line. He added 4 assists and 3 steals.

"DeAndre is kind of settling into his role, which is to get us organized but also to not neglect his own offense,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. "And that's a tough situation to be in for a point guard. It's a position where you have to know what everyone else is doing, and oh by the way, you can't forget that you're involved, too. And he's a good one and I'm really thankful that he's on our team. I thought he had a nice game.'

The Bears were cold from the field early in the first half and found themselves down by as much as 13 points twice before rallying down the stretch. After trailing 26-13 with 6:40 remaining, the Bears outscored the Billikens 17-8 in the final 6:00 to get within 34-30 at halftime. During that span, the Bears connected four times from three-point range, one each by junior Aaron Weidenaar, senior Thatch Unruh and sophomores Jones and Matthew Mondesir. 

Jones' three came with 29 seconds left in the half and cut the margin to four points, 34-30, at the break. UCA was outrebounded 25-8 but forced the Billikens into 11 first-half turnovers. UCA shot 39.3 percent from the field and SLU was at 44.4 percent. 

A three-pointer by Unruh got the Bears within 41-40 at the 17:20 mark of the second half. UCA was that close again at 47-46, 49-48 and 51-50 before the margin expanded. The closest UCA would get in the final 6:00 was six points at 4:41 when freshman Khaleem Bennett made 1 of 2 at the line to make it 59-53.

"We had a couple of good shots, that were open shots, that didn't go in,' said Pennell. "I thought if we had gotten the lead, the pressure went to them a little bit. But we never could get quite over the hump. We didn't shoot the ball very well, and I credit their defense somewhat, But man, we missed some open shots. 

"But I did tell the guys that I was proud of their effort. I thought they played extremely hard and gave themselves a chance to win. We just didn't get over the hump when we needed to.'

The Billikens, coming off their first loss of the season against Pittsburgh on Wednesday, dominated the rebounding with a 47-24 advantage, including 14 offensive rebounds. UCA did force SLU into 18 turnovers.

Jones was the only UCA player in double figures, with freshman Eddy Kayouloud adding 8 points and Unruh and Mondesir 7 each. Javon Bess led the Billikens with 19 points, while Jordan Goodwin had 18.

UCA returns to the Farris Center at 7 p.m. Wednesday to take on the Little Rock Trojans in Round 1 of the "Governor's I-40 Showdown."