ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. _ Cold shooting hampered the University of Central Arkansas Bears in Sunday's 82-70 loss to the New Mexico Lobos before a raucous crowd of 10,082 at Dreamstyle Arena/The Pit.

The Bears (4-6) shot just 39.4 percent overall and just 25 percent (6 of 24) from beyond the three-point arc. Still, UCA was within six points at 72-66 with 3:42 to play. But the Lobos (5-4) outscored the Bears 10-4 down the stretch to earn the victory.

"I thought the looks were really good. Maybe that's the week off,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell, whose team last played on Dec. 8 because of a week of final exams. "I don't know. I just thought, gosh, you get wide-open shots that weren't even contested many of them. And that was disappointing because I thought our offense was good enough that we had good looks. 

"I think we will make those shots for the most part. But the game of basketball is you have to make your baskets and we just didn't make enough of them.'

The Bears trailed 40-32 at halftime but got to within six points on a three-pointer from freshman Eddy Kayouloud with 16:30 left. A flurry of threes from the Mountain West Conference Lobos (5-4) quickly pushed the margin to 15 points at 65-50 at the midway point of the second half. But sophomore Jared Chatham and freshman Kahleem Bennett helped the Bears chip away and finally close the gap to six points again.on another Kayouloud three heading into the final four minutes.

"I thought we played hard enough to win, I really did,' said Pennell. "I thought that part was good. But when you play in an environment like this, I won't say you have to play a perfect game, but you can't miss layups. We had a stretch where we missed a layup, missed a dunk and then we missed a free throw. When their team is on a run, you have to do something to kind of keep the game within a reasonable striking distance. 

"And I thought on those two particular plays, we would have kept it out of double digits and we could have kept moving forward. But what got us the second half as much as anything was we just didn't rebound very well in the second half. I thought we got tired and I thought the elevation got to us a little bit. Guys were wanting to come out. And we just didn't rebound well enough on their errant shots.

"With as many threes as they take, when you hold them to 30.6 percent, 11 of 36, that's pretty good. That's what you want against a team that shoots that many. But we just didn't get enough rebounds and I think that's the thing that did us in.'

Bennett, in foul trouble most of the game, led the Bears with 14 points, hitting 7 of 9 from the field, while Chatham added 10 points. Sophomore center Hayden Koval had 11 points, a team-high  8 rebounds and a season-high 3 blocked shots, while Kayouloud chipped in 10 points in his first game following a two-game absence.. UCA had only 11 turnovers, with just two of those coming in the second half. 

"I think he had a really nice game,' Pennell said of Bennett. "I wish he hadn't have got that third foul. I think that really hurt us because we had the jump (ball) and instead it put a third foul on him and put him on the bench for the rest of the half.

"And I was really happy with Jared. I think he's figuring it out, and I've got to figure out how to get him in the game more. Because his minutes and his production are really, really high. We've got to carve out more minutes for him. I'm proud of his effort and I think that bodes well for us down the line.'

The Lobos got 22 points from Makuach Maluach, including 4 of 6 from three-point range. Carlton Bragg, a former McDonald's All-America who transferred from Kansas and was playing his first game for the Lobos, had 16 points, while Anthony Mathis scored 14 but it took 15 shots, all from beyond the arc. 

Next up for the Bears in their three-game road trip is a date with the Indiana Hoosiers at 6 p.m. (CT) Wednesday night from historic Assembly Hall in Bloomington. UCA will close out the road trip on Friday, taking on Oklahoma State in a matinee game at noon at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater.