CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears shot a dismal 25.5 percent from the field on Sunday afternoon in dropping a 76-56 decision to the Little Rock Trojans at the Farris Center.

Little Rock (3-1) picked up four points in the "Governor's I-40 Showdown" standings to take the lead over UCA 14.5 to 11.5 heading into the spring sports. UCA (1-4) easily won last year's showdown that covered 11 sports and 17 total contests.

The Bears trailed by just four points at the half, 30-26, despite shooting just 18.5 percent from the field (5 of 27). They got hotter, at least briefly, early in the second half and tied the game at 38-38 on a three-pointer by redshirt freshman Jaxson Baker at the 16:02 mark of the half. But the Trojans outscored the Bears 38-18 the rest of the way, shooting at a 56.7 percent clip in the second half, and 42.6 percent for the game.

The Trojans connected on 5 of 9 from three-point range in the final 20 minutes after going 1 for 9 in the opening half. UCA had five different players make a three-pointer, led by two each from Baker, sophomore Rylan Bergersen and freshman Collin Cooper, as the Bears went 8 for 25 (32 percent). The Bears also had an advantage at the free-throw line, making 22 of 30 to Little Rock's 18 of 24. But UCA made half as many field goals (13 for 51) as Little Rock (26 of 61) and also lost the rebound battle 45-35.

"I think we're trying really hard but I don't think we're playing together,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. "I think that's a big thing we're missing. And we're certainly not making winning plays. I told them, to me it's not even the shots we're missing, it's when they are coming in the offense. One or two passes and we're just shooting the three. I think half of our attempts today, or close to it, were three-pointers. And that's not winning basketball. There's no one that plays that kind of basketball, where you just make one or two passes and then take a shot. You have to let your offense set those things up.

"I think right now we are taking marginal shots. I think the biggest thing is we're way to quick to settle for those shots and not get something going through the paint, whether that's a drive or a post touch.'

UCA sophomore Eddy Kayouloud scored a team-high 14 points before fouling out with 7:10 to play. Bergersen, a sophomore transfer from BYU, added 11 points, while junior center Hayden Koval had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Baker, in his first career start, had six points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. UCA's starting point guard DeAndre Jones played only nine minutes after aggravating a calf injury in the first half.

"I thought Jaxson, especially early on, his defense was outstanding,' said Pennell. "He was guarding the guy at the high post and he was making it difficult. But I think they just wore us down. As I told (LR Coach) Darrell (Walker), they're much better I think than they were last year. I think once they get their two bigs back, they're going to be handful. They're going to have a nice year.'

Markquis Nowell led the Trojans with 25 points, with 16 of those coming in the decisive second half. Ruot Monyyong had 17 points and 14 rebounds while Ben Coupet scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half.

"Our goal is to be good when conference gets here,' said Pennell. "I'd like to be good now, and I hate losing. But I do know that we've got to keep at it in order to get ourselves right. Because when you get to league play, there are going to be so many games that are going to be just like the first 30 minutes of this one. We had it tied and then we played horrible. We were down four at halftime and shot 18 percent. There are a lot of games like that.

"You have to learn how to win those games. And I thought we faltered greatly in the last 10 minutes, which is a teaching and learning point. So I don't want to walk out of here tonight thinking that we didn't battle and play hard. The first thing I told them was, I thought you played hard, I just didn't think you played smart all the time. There's a big difference there.

"So, we've got a lot of season to go. And for us to get really discouraged right now would just be something that wouldn't be very smart.' 

UCA heads to California next weekend to take part in the Empire Classic benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project. The Bears take on California Baptist at 9 p.m. (CT) Friday in Riverside, Calif., then either Georgia State or Prairie View A&M on Saturday.