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CONWAY, Ark._ The University of Central Arkansas Bears passed their first ASUN Conference test last Tuesday night, beating Eastern Kentucky on the road in the opening game in their new league.

Their next challenge comes at 2 p.m. Sunday on their home court when they host the Lipscomb Bisons at the Farris Center.

UCA (4-10, 1-0) had four players in double figures in beating EKU to open conference play 1-0 for the second year in a row and the fifth time in the past six seasons, with all of those in the Southland Conference. The Bears also started 2-0 in both 2019-20 and 2020-21. 

To do that again, they will have to beat an 8-8 LIpscomb team that is also 1-0 in ASUN play after an 84-74 win over North Alabama at home in Nashville. The Bisons, however, are just 1-6 in road games this season. 
 
UCA is 3-0 on its new Scottie Pippen Court this season, with wins over Oral Roberts, Hendrix and Champion Christian.

The Bears and Bisons have only met once before, that coming in the second round of the 1990 NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. No. 1 seed Lipscomb beat UCA 70-66 at Kemper Arena, the year before the Bears put together consecutive trips to the national championship game. Lipscomb lost to eventual champion Birmingham Southern in the semifinals. The Bisons were led by All-American Philip Hutcheson, who is now Lipscomb's athletic director.

Against EKU, UCA's Darious Hall had his fourth double-double of the seasonw with 21 points and 16 rebounds. Sophomore guard Collin Cooper added a career-high 18 points and was 4 of 6 from three-point range. Graduate forward Jared Chatham and freshman point guard Camren Hunter had 16 points each. Cooper and freshman Ibbe Klintman handed out five assists each as the Bears finished with 20 assists on 29 made baskets.

The Bears shot 50.9 percent overall and went 17 of 19 (89.5%) at the free-throw line, with Hall going 9 of 10 and Cooper 6 of 6.
 
In their most recent home game, the Bears throttled Champion Christian 119-47, their first game over the 100-point mark since 2020 and first time holding an opponent under 50 points since 2020. UCA had seven players in double figures for the first time since 2004.

Lipscomb is led by a pair of talented, solidly built players in freshman forward Jacob Ognacevic (6-foot-8, 220 pounds) and junior center Ahsan Asadullah (6-9, 275). Ognacevic averages 17.7 points and game and is a 54-percent shooter from three-point range.  Asadullah averages a team-high 8.3 rebounds and is coming off a 30-point scoring effort against UNA, a game in which the Bisons shot 54.5 percent from the field.

Hall, a transfer from Arkansas/DePaul, leads the Bears in both scoring (13.1) and rebounding (7.6), while freshman point guard Camren Hunter averages a team-best 2.7 assists and 1.5 steals. Cooper is shooting 40 percent from three-point range.

The game was originally scheduled for Saturday as part of a doubleheader with the Sugar Bears, but was delayed because of winter weather in the Nashville area.

UCA returns to the road on Tuesday, and back to Kentucky, to take on Bellarmine at 6 p.m. (CT) at Freedom Hall in Louisville.