CONWAY, Ark. _ A poor shooting night was rescued by a solid defensive effort that carried the University of Central Arkansas Bears to a 71-51 victory over the Hendrix Warriors on Thursday night at the Farris Center.

UCA held NCAA Division III Hendrix to 26.7-percent shooting overall and 21.4 percent from three-point range in evening their record at 1-1. The Warriors made 6 of 28 from three-point range and just 16 of 60 from the field.

The Bears did not shoot particularly well either, hitting 41.4 percent overall and just 25 percent (5 of 20) from beyond the arc. UCA was also cold from the free-throw line, making 18 of 30 (60 percent). Still, the Bears pulled away from the scrappy Warriors late in the first half and eventually led by as much as 25 points in the second half.

"I thought that was the best defensive performance a UCA team has had since I've been here,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell, in his sixth season at the school. "We just didn't shoot the ball well. I thought we had some great looks and the ball just didn't go in. We were able to absorb a bad shooting night and still win. In the past, if we'd had something like that, we might not have been able to.

"And we've been putting a big emphasis on the defensive end, which sometimes will take away from your shooting when you're trying to figure that out. I think what we did, we rushed a few things, and I thought Hendrix really came out playing hard. I thought they got after us. I think they knew they had a size disadvantage and they were going to be physical with us, and it took us a minute to figure that out. But man, did I like the defense.'

Both teams started slow offensively, with the score tied at 8-8 nearly halfway through the first half. But from there, UCA outscored Hendrix 17-3 the rest of the half to grab a 25-11 advantage at the break. The Warriors shot 16 percent in the first half and made just four field goals, two of those three-pointers.

The Bears quickly extended the lead early in the second half before the Warriors cut it to eight points at 34-26 with 14:25 left. But a 9-0 run, sparked by a three-pointer by freshman Masai Olowokere, put the Bears back in control for good. UCA's bench contributed 32 points, led by junior Jared Chatham with a team-high 12 points  and four rebounds. Sophomore Eddy Kayouloud scored 11 points and pulled down 9 rebounds, while junior guard Rylan Bergersen had 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Freshman Collin Cooper hit a pair of three-pointers and had 8 points off the bench, while redshirt freshman Jaxson Baker had 5 point, 4 rebounds and a blocked shot. Junior center Hayden Koval scored 6 points, had 9 rebounds and 5 blocks.

"Collin played well, I thought Masai played well. I thought Jaxson Baker played well,' said Pennell. "I challenged our bench. I did not like the way our bench played at Baylor. I didn't think they brought energy, their stats were very meager. And I told them, unless your energy gets better, we'll just shorten the rotation. And I actually thought the bench picked the pace up when they came in tonight. And that's what teams are supposed to do.

"You have 13 scholarship players and you try to figure out which ones are good on that given night. Collin Cooper was definitely a big plus in this game. And we expect even better things from him. And Jaxson is kind of our Swiss army knife, you can put him in a lot of different places. The thing I love about Jaxson is he's into the game from the moment the ball goes up. He knows what we need. When you have kids like that, it's very comforting as a coach because you know you can get their best effort when you need it.'

Hendrix forward Seth Stanley had 16 points and 8 rebounds for the Warriors, who count the game as an exhibition as a Division III team. 

The Bears pick up the competition level over the next six days, playing at Georgetown on Saturday and at No. 4 Duke on Tuesday before hosting Little Rock on Sunday, Nov. 17.