BEAUMONT, Texas _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears have scrapped their way into sole possession of first place in the Southland Conference and know they will have to battle to stay there with a month remaining in the regular season.

The first such challenge for the No. 9/10 Bears (6-2, 4-1) comes Saturday when they face the Lamar Cardinals at Provost Umphrey Stadium in Beaumont, Texas.

The Bears have won three consecutive games to move into the FCS Top 10, including last week's 29-25 win over Top 25 Sam Houston State at First Security Field at Estes Stadium. UCA, which played five of its first seven games on the road, has two home games and two road games remaining to close out the regular season.

The Cardinals, who broke an 0-for-7 streak against the Bears last season in Conway, are 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the SLC. Lamar is coming off a 35-17 loss at Incarnate Word last week but beat Sam Houston State 20-17 the previous week, also on the road. The Cardinals made the FCS Playoffs a year ago after finishing 6-3 in conference play, including their 38-24 win over the Bears in which they jumped out to a 29-10 lead early in the second quarter and never let UCA back in the game. 

After trailing 35-16 at halftime, UCA's defense held Lamar to just 85 total yards of offense and a lone field goal in the second half. Sophomore running back Kierre Crossley had 115 rushing yards on just nine carries for the Bears, who finished the game with 435 yards of total offense. Junior running back Carlos Blackman connected with tight end Luke Ross for a 2-yard touchdown pass that closed the scoring in the fourth quarter.

The Bears recorded their sixth come-from-behind victory of the season last week with their 29-25 win over the Bearkats, who were in a four-way tie for first place in the SLC heading into the game. UCA's win, coupled with losses by Incarnate Word and Nicholls, put UCA atop the standings. Sophomore quarterback Breylin Smith earned SLC Offensive Player of the Week honors after career highs of 405 passing yards and four touchdowns, all in the second half, as UCA overcame a 16-0 halftime deficit.

True freshman wide receiver Tyler Hudson had career highs of 10 receptions for 140 and a touchdown (15 yards), while junior receiver Joe Hampton caught five passes for 149 yards, including touchdowns of 40 and 53 yards. Hampton was named the L.B. Jackman Award winner as the Most Valuable Player in the UCA Homecoming game. After Smith's 15-yard touchdown pass to Hudson gave the Bears a 29-25 lead with 3:57 to play in the game, defensive tackle Azuka Mgbemena forced an SHSU fumble and defensive end J.W. Jones recovered at the UCA 18 in the final seconds to seal the victory.

Lamar has the second-ranked total defense in the Southland, allowing just 380.4 yards per game. The Cardinals are No. 1 against the pass, allowing just 230.2 passing yards per game. UCA is third in the league in passing at 314.6 yards per game, led by Smith, who is third in passing and fourth in total offense in the SLC. Smith lost his biggest target to injury last week as Lujuan Winningham broke his arm. Winningham leads the league in receiving yards per game (101.8) and has 50 receptions for 814 yards and eight touchdowns.

Smith has thrown for 2,414 yards and 20 touchdowns while completing 64.9 percent of his passes in 2019. Blackman has moved into seventh in career rushing at UCA with 2,630 yards, trailing No. 6 Shawn McGehee by 265 yards. 

The game will be carried live on The Bear 91.3, The Point 94.1 and on ESPN+. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.