NEW ORLEANS, La. _ Hayden Koval and Rylan Bergerson scored 20 points each but the University of Central Arkansas Bears fell 86-78 to the New Orleans Privateers on Wednesday night at Lakefront Arena.

The Privateers (5-10, 1-4) shot 54 percent from the field in the second half to knock off the Bears (4-12, 3-2) and win their first Southland Conference game of the season. UNO had six players in double figures, led by point guard Lamont Berzat with 18 points, including 7 of 8 at the free-throw line, all in the second half.

The Bears held UNO's leading scorer _ and the No. 2 scorer in the SLC _ Bryson Robinson to 11 points after he scored 28 against the Bears a year ago.

The Bears trailed 40-37 at halftime and then fell behind by as much as 12 points midway through the second half. But UCA got a late spurt and cut the deficit to just two points on back to back baskets by Bergersen, both off feeds from sophomore Eddy Kayouloud. The second basket made it 74-72 with 1:45 left to play.

But the Privateers held off the Bears at the free-throw line, hitting 9 of 10 at the line in the final minute. Berzat made 5 of 6 and Troy Green hit the final two with 4.7 left. That offset a three-pointer by UCA senior Aaron Weidenaar with 28.5 seconds left and another by Koval with just :12 remaining.

The Bears were just 6 of 24 (25 percent) from three-point range after making 14 of 25 in their last outing against McNeese. Weidenaar made 3 of 6 and no other player made more than one. UNO was 8 of 17, with Berzat connecting three times and Robinson and Raquan Brown twice each.

Bergerson put in a layup on a pass from point guard DeAndre Jones in the final seconds of the first half to pull the Bears within 40-37 at the break. Bergerson had 14 first-half points as eight Bears found the scoring column. The Bears shot just 40.7 percent overall and made only 2 of 11 three-point attempts. They stayed closed by going 13 for 18 at the free-throw line.

UCA led by three midway through the half after Kayouloud's layup but the Privateers put together an 8-2 run to re-take the lead with 8:40 left. UCA tited it on Bergersen's three-pointer two minutes later but the Bears trailed the remainder of the half. Junior starter Jared Chatham picked up his third foul with 5:06 remaining and sat the remainder of the half. Chatham and point guard DeAndre Jones would both eventually foul out.

Kayouloud was the only other UCA player in double figures with 10 points, 

The Bears will be at home at the Farris Center at 3 p.m. Saturday against Sam Houston State in a doubleheader with the Sugar Bears.