CONWAY, Ark. _ A cold-shooting second half was more than the University of Central Arkansas Bears could overcome on Saturday in a 67-55 Southland Conference loss to the second-place Abilene Christian Wildcats at the Farris Center.

UCA seniors Thatch Unruh, Tanner Schmit and Jordan Grant closed out their home careers combining for 37 points, 10 rebounds, six three-pointers and five assists in their final home game at the Farris Center. Unruh made 3 of 7 from three-point range and led the Bears with 17 points. Schmit was 6 of 9 overall and 2 of 4 from beyond the arc for 15 points and 5 rebounds. Grant hit his only three-point attempt and handed out three assists.

The Bears, who shot 46.7 percent in the first half and made 7 of 12 from three-point range, were ice-cold in the second half. UCA went nearly eight minutes without scoring and was outscored 28-18 in the final 20 minutes.

"I thought in the second half we panicked a little bit and took some shots that we don't normally take,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell. "Almost like trying to hit a home run. I told them, there's no three-run homer in basketball. You have to get it a bucket at a time. We were kind of the all or nothing mode, and it wasn't very good. Disappointed that we didn't get the win, disappointed for our seniors. But I thought we played hard, but you just wish the outcome would have been different.'
 

UCA ran out to an early 17-6 behind a pair of three-pointers from Schmit and a trio from Unruh. The second-place Wildcats (23-6, 12-4) fought back from three-point range as well, going 8 for 13 in the opening half and eventually taking a 39-37 halftime lead. The second half was another story for the Bears, who were just 9 of 29 from the field and 0 for 7 from three-point range after halftime.

"I  think our biggest issue with our team is our inconsistency,' Pennell said. "And it's a little bit different, you have two guys who are used to starting that aren't starting. And they understood why, it wasn't a bad attitude issue or anything. But then they come in and give you absolutely nothing. I'm looking right here, it's goose eggs all over the place.

"And I think that's the problem right now with our team. We have two or three guys that are pretty consistent and then we have a bunch of guys that we don't know what we're going to get. And I think that's maybe where the immaturity and our youth comes in. And we need to figure that out. We need to figure out No. 1 if they can do it. And then if their maturity next year will allow them to do it.

"I'm not blaming those two guys for the loss, but you've just got to get some production from some other guys.'
 

In the second half, the Bears got stuck on 47 points from the 10:45 mark to the 3:04 mark as the Wildcats stretched their lead to as much as 16 points.

Sophomore center Hayden Koval had 8 points, 8 rebounds and 6 blocked shots for the Bears, who outrebounded the Wildcats 39-33, including 10 offensive rebounds. Two normal UCA starters, Eddy Kayouloud and Khaleem Bennett, were replaced in the starting lineup by Schmit and Grant. The former were both scoreless off the bench, although Kayouloud did grab 7 rebounds.

UCA entered the game in a four-way tie for seventh place, with the top eight teams qualifying for the SLC Tournament.

"I told the guys, when we get done today with conference play, I would say we're still in the mix,' said Pennell. "And now it gets tough, with two on the road. You're playing the team that's trying to win the league and you're playing a team that you're battling with to try to get one of the positions. So it won't get any easier. And I told them basically what it boils down to now, do you still want to play? And as coaches, we certainly do, and we're going to coach that way. And I think the character of this team is they will. 

"I think they will battle and I think they will fight. But it's just unfortunate that we're in this situation because I think we're better than where we're at right now.'

UCA finishes up the regular-season schedule with two road games, at league-leader Sam Houston State on Wednesday and Northwestern State on Saturday.