CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears will be taking some much-needed momentum into the second half of the Southland Conference season and a three-game SLC road swing that begins Saturday afternoon in Natchitches, La.

    The Bears (6-15, 5-5) blew out the Southeastern Louisiana Lions 88-68 on Wednesday night at the Farris Center to break a frustrating three-game losing streak, with the losses by a combined nine points. Now they take on the Northwestern State Demons (8-11, 5-5) at 3:00 p.m as part of a doubleheader with the Sugar Bears at Prather Coliseum. The Bears and Demons are tied for sixth place in the SLC standings at 5-5 at the halfway point of the conference season.

    UCA is 5-3 at home this season (5-2 in SLC games) but has yet to win a game on the road against arguably one of the toughest non-conference schedules in school history. The Bears have also dropped three road conference games thus far. With the next three games on the road _ at Northwestern State, at Lamar and at McNeese State _ UCA needs to find the key to winning on the road, something only one conference team has mastered this season. League-leader Stephen F. Austin is the only team above .500 in road games this season.

    NSU, which has won three of its past four road games, is coming off a solid 82-74 win on the road against New Orleans in which it shot 49.2 percent from the field and had three players in double figures, led by 6-foot-6 junior forward Chudier Bile with 20 points. Nikos Chougkaz, a 6-9 freshman guard, had 13 points, 16 rebounds and 6 assists.

    UCA's 7-foot junior center Hayden Koval put up similar numbers against SLU with 18 points, a career-high 14 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Junior guard Rylan Bergersen, playing with a broken nose, led the Bears with 20 points, hitting a pair of three-pointers. Junior forward Jared Chatham came off the bench for the first time in a month and had 14 pionts, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.    

    The Demons lead the overall series 22-7 but UCA has won three of the past four meetings, and five of the past seven. The teams split two games last season, with the road team winning both. NSU had four players in double figures in an 80-75 win at the Farris Center in February, overcoming a career-high 33-point performance from UCA senior guard Thatch Unruh.

    The Bears returned the favor a month later behind 30 more points from Unruh in a 70-63 victory in Natchitoches. UCA won despite shooting 38.2 percent overall and turning the ball over 19 times. Unruh went 5 of 6 from three-point range as the Bears connected nine times and shot 40.9 percent from beyond the arc. Senior center Ishmael Lane topped the Demons in both games and combined for 40 points and 32 rebounds in the two matchups against the Bears.

    The Demons, under long-time head coach Mike McConathy, feature a lot of new faces this season. They are led by Bile, who averages 13.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Junior guard Jairus Roberson is the only other NSU player averaging in double figures at 11.2 points per game. Bile had a career-high 26 points last month against SFA and a career-high 13 rebounds against McNeese. Roberson scored 23 at Nicholls.

    The doubleheader with be carried live on The Bear 91.3 with Steve Owens on the call for the Sugar Bears and Justin Acri for the Bears.