CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears return home for three consecutive games beginning Saturday when they host the Northwestern State Demons. Tip-off at the Farris Center is scheduled for approximately 4:15 following the women's game.
The Bears (10-12, 5-4), who will be playing just their ninth home game (out of 23), capped off a recent two-game road swing with a 105-99 overtime loss at preseason favorite Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday night in one of the toughest places to play in the league. They now get three at home, plus a bye next Wednesday, before the home stretch of the Southland Conference season. UCA will play five of its final nine SLC game at the Farris Center, where it is 7-1 this season.
"I was hoping at the turn that we'd be 6-3,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell following Wednesday's heartbreaker, which was the half-way point of the conference season. "You want to be 9-0, but let's be realistic. And I don't try to pick where we'll win and where we'll lose. I don't really look at it that way. But my thought was, if you turn 6-3, that's pretty good. Especially with us coming home to play five of the nine.
"And so, we came up one short. But I still like the position we're in, I like the teams we'll be playing. The thing what we have to do it not get so caught up in the record, chasing the championship... that's stuff all happens. It's about can we play like we did tonight. I hate the loss, it just eats me up. But here's what I know... my guys did everything they could to win this game and they were a shot and a tip-in away from winning this basketball game.
"And with that being said, it's hard to be too upset with them, to bee too down about it. We just have to fight back. And I think the mark of a great team is, what will we do Saturday. And I'll think we handle it the right way and come out and play really well Saturday at home.'
The Demons have dominated the series with the Bears over the long haul, leading 21-6. However, the Bears have won four of the past five meetings, including both games in the regular season last year. UCA won 95-78 in the first meeting in Natchitoches, La., and took the rematch in Conway 61-58.
UCA has actually won the past three times the teams played in Conway, including two wild affairs in 2016 (107-94) and 2017 (107-97). Neither team is scoring at that pace this season, with the Bears fifth in the SLC at 72.4 points per game and the Demons 12th at 65.1 ppg. NSU is led by senior forward/center Ishmael Lane (6-8, 250), who is averaging 12.6 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, with the rebounds ranking second in the conference. He is also tied with UCA sophomore Hayden Koval for the blocked shot lead in the SLC at 1.9 per game. Koval is one blocked shot from tying the UCA career record of 148.
UCA sophomore point guard DeAndre Jones has his best all-around game against SFA, with a career-high 29 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists andd 6 steals. He ranks first in the league in assists (4.9 per game) and is shooting 42 percent from three-point range and 80.9 percent from the free-throw line.
Sophomore Matthew Mondesir, usually UCA's sixth man, stepped into the starting lineup Wednesday in place of freshman Khaleem Bennett (ankle) and scored a career-high 16 points and added six assists. Senior Thatch Unruh, the only senior starter in UCA's lineup, had 16 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists against the Lumberjacks.
The Demons are coming off a 72-64 loss at New Orleans on Wednesday night in which Lane had 17 points and 15 rebounds and was the only Demon in double figures.
