CONWAY, Ark. _ The "Governor's I-40 Showdown" was only a showdown for one half on Wednesday night at the Farris Center.

The University of Central Arkansas Bears ended the suspense early in the second half with a 15-2 run and pulled away to a 78-65 victory over the Little Rock Trojans in front of a season-high crowd of 2,755. The Bears (3-4), with their second consecutive win in the series, increased their point total to 18.5 points in the showdown standings, well ahead of Little Rock's 3.5 points in the year-long competition between the in-state rivals.

The rematch is set for Saturday, Dec. 8 at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.

UCA sophomore point guard DeAndre Jones had his third consecutive career high with a game-high 23 points, hitting 7 of 11 from the field, 4 of 7 from three-point range and 5 of 6 at the free-throw line. Jones led four Bears in double figures as UCA shot 50.9 percent from the field overall and 50 percent (10 of 20) from beyond the arc, its fourth game with at least 10 threes in seven games this season.

"I told the guys, I thought that was kind of a (Southland) conference type of game,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell, who celebrated his birthday with the victory and a postgame serenade from his team in the locker room. "When you're playing against a really good opponent and if you have any letdowns it's going to cost you. And we made just enough plays to kind of get over the hump.

"We really haven't been in that situation with this young team. But I thought we made just enough plays and our defense was really good tonight. So I'm happy about that, happy about the win. Just a good overall night for the Bears.'

UCA's defense held Little Rock to 40.9 percent from the field but the big problem for the Trojans was at the free-throw line, where they made just 4 of 21 (19 percent). Little Rock was better from three-point range (7 of 25, 28 percent) than from the line in losing their second straight in-state game. UAPB beat Little Rock 75-66 on Saturday in Little Rock. The Trojans, one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the nation, had made 26 of 31 free throws (83.9 percent) against Howard University just a week ago.

The Bears, leading 33-32 at the break, started the second half with a turnover but nothing else went wrong for the first five minutes as freshman Khaleem Bennett started the spurt with a dunk off a Jones pass. Sophomore center Hayden Koval converted a layup, two of his 15 points, followed by a a pair of three-pointers from Jones, a layup by Bennett and Kayouloud's three-pointer that capped the run with 14:42 left and put UCA ahead 48-34.

The Trojans (3-4) chipped away at the UCA lead _ which reached a high of 16 points twice in the second half _ late in the game, with Rayjon Tucker's layup cutting the deficit to 73-65 with 1:31 to play. But Kayouloud nailed a three-pointer at the 1:00 mark and senior Thatch Unruh was fouled on a three-point attempt and hit two of three free throws to seal it for the Bears.

"The thing is they are athletic, they play aggressive, they never back down,' said Pennell of the Trojans. "That's the thing I've found, whether it was (head coach) Steve Shields or Wes Flanigan or Darrell Walker, the Little Rock players do not back down. They come at you every play. And that's one of the things we tried to tell our guys... you play these guys, it's going to be a street brawl.You better be ready and you better put your big boy pants on and come to play.

"And I thought for the most part we did tonight. I thought we showed some toughness, I really did. And when the game was kind of on the line, I thought guys stepped up and did what they were supposed to do.'  

Unruh finished with 13 points, hitting 3 of 4 from three-point range, while Bennett had 10 points. Jones, a 5-foot-11 guard from Boise, Idaho, also had 7 rebounds and 7 assists for the Bears, while sophomore Matthew Mondesir had a team-high nine rebounds. 

"DJ got away from them a couple of times and made a couple of shots that kind of got us going,' said Pennell. "He just plays the game the right way. He plays to win. One of the things when I was recruiting him I asked him what made him so good, because I like to find out what kids think. He said 'I've always been told I can't... I'm too little, I'm too this, I'm too that.'

"And I think he plays with that chip on his shoulder and that makes him an awful good player. He's such a weapon, because he can get off a ball screen, split it and get down the lane. And he's more athletic than you think. He can really jump. And of course, he's shooting the ball lights out right now, which is making him a dual threat.'

Tucker topped the Trojans with 20 points but was just 8 of 23 from the field. Kris Bankston, averaging 9.7 points for Little Rock, fouled out with 12:25 remaining after playing only 14 minutes. He finished with 8 points and 6 rebounds. Both teams were missing key players due to injuries, with UCA's Tanner Schmit and Aaron Weidenaar in street clothes and Little Rock's second-leading scorer Markquis Nowell missing the game as well.

UCA has a week off before playing at Louisville on Wednesday, Dec. 5, the first of five consecutive road games in five different states for the Bears over the next three weeks.