FRISCO, Texas _ The University of Central Arkansas' victory over Southeastern Louisiana on Jan. 5 in Hammond, La., began a stretch where the Bears won five of six games to move as high as third place in the Southland Conference standings.

    The Bears are hoping another victory over the Lions at 4 p.m. Saturday will give them a similar burst of momentum after a three-game winless streak.

    Since Jan. 26, the Bears have dropped games at second-place Abilene Christian, at fifth-place Stephen F. Austin and at home against Northwestern State last Saturday. UCA stands 5-5 in SLC play with eight regular-season games remaining. Another four-game winning streak would certainly come in handy down the stretch in cementing a third straight trip to the SLC Tournament in Katy, Texas.

    The Lions (10-13, 6-4) have won six of their eight games since the loss to the Bears. The only two losses were to the top two teams in the league, Sam Houston State and Abilene Christian. SLU is 5-7 in overall road games this season, but 4-1 in SLC road games, including a 64-58 win at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Wednesday night.

    The Bears are 7-2 this season at the Farris Center but lost 80-75 to the Demons last Saturday before their first open date of the season on Wednesday. The Bears overcame a 51-27 halftime deficit and outscored the Demons 48-29 in the second half before misfiring at the free-throw line down the stretch.

    Senior guard Thatch Unruh had a career-high 33 points against NSU, hitting a pair of three pointers. Unruh moved into fifth on the UCA career three-point list with 159, trailing No. 4 Clifton Bush by just five. Sophomore center Hayden Koval broke the school's career record for blocked shots against the Demons, swatting a pair of shots to give him 149 in his young career, surpassing Durrell Nevels' record of 148.

    Koval is No. 2 the SLC in blocks per game at 1.9. SLU's Moses Greenwood is fifth at 1.2.

    Two of the top point guards in the league will be on the floor in UCA's DeAndre Jones and SLU's Marlain Veal. Jones, a sophomore from Boise, Idaho, is No. 1 in assists (4.8) and No. 2 in steals (2.0) while averaging a team-high 13.0 points. Veal, a senior from New Orleans, is fourth in assists (4.4), eighth in steals (1.7) and leads the Lions in scoring as well at 16.7. Both guards also rank in the Top 10 in the SLC in free-throw shooting.

    The Bears won the first meeting with the Lions when sophomore Matthew Mondesir tipped in a missed shot with 0.2 seconds left at the University Center. UCA held SLU to just six field goals and 27.3-percent shooting in the first half and led 30-20 at halftime. Both teams were red-hot in the second half, with the Bears shooting 64 percent and the Lions 55.9 percent.

    The Bears will continue their three-game homestand next Wednesday when they host the Houston Baptist Huskies at 7 p.m. before a two-game road swing at McNeese State and Nicholls State.