DUBLIN, Ireland – Playing a second game in 19 hours, the Central Arkansas men's basketball team gutted out a 90-85 win over Rider Saturday morning, returning home from Ireland in high spirits after closing the ASUN/MAAC Challenge with a win. The win improves the Bears to 3-2 on the season.
Four Bears scored in double-figures, led by Camren Hunter's career-high 28 points. Also netting double-digits were
Eddy Kayouloud (16 pts),
Masai Olowokere (15 pts), and Johannes Kirsipuu, who sunk nine of ten free throws en route to a season-best 14 points.
Olowokere won the opening tip-off, making the 6-5 wing 2-for-2 winning jump balls in Ireland; from there, the Bears opened the game exploiting the strength of Hunter, who backed down his man for an easy layup for the first score of the game. The Bryant, Ark., native scored the first four points of the game, helping Central Arkansas build a seven-point, 11-4 lead in the first three minutes, forcing a timeout from the Rider coaching staff.
Continuing to bully smaller guards in the post and off the dribble, Hunter reached double-figure scoring in just five minutes, flipping in another shot in the paint to eclipse the mark for a fifth-straight game.
Regaining its footing, Rider trimmed the lead back down, keeping the score within two possessions for most of the front-half of the first period. Hitting a pair of free throws, the Broncs' Dwight Murray Jr. tied the game at 18 all, but that would be as close as the MAAC opponent would get in the first half, as a 4-0 run by the Bears stretched the lead again.
Closing out the first half, Central Arkansas increased the lead to double digits, with Kayouloud connecting on two shots from the charity stripe to make it a 10-point lead. But Rider would fight through it, blitzing a 9-0 run to cut the lead to one before the half would settle at 41-39 in favor of Central Arkansas. The Bears shot 7-of-15 from beyond the arc in the first half, ultimately finishing 11-of-25, knocking down 44 percent of their three-pointers.
Rider finally claimed its first lead of the game with a three-ball a couple of minutes into the second half, taking a 44-43 lead. The Broncs then built it into a six-point lead, using an 8-0 run to flip the script on the Bears. Unflinchingly, Central Arkansas erased the deficit in just 90 seconds, responding with a flurry of buckets, capped by a triple from Ibbe Klintman, to repossess the lead.
The teams would trade the lead back and forth, fighting tooth and nail for any kind of advantage. But it was the Bears that eventually pulled away, building a seven-point lead with 46 seconds to get far enough ahead to hold onto the lead. From there, five free throws from Kirsipuu and two from Hunter would ice the game as Central Arkansas hit 90 points for the second time this season. Kirsipuu was critical down the stretch, taking two charges and giving the Bears another ball handling option to keep the game under control.
Returning to the States, the Bears settle in to host a tournament of their own next weekend, taking on Northwestern State and Idaho State in the Central Arkansas Classic. Those games will be played on Saturday and Sunday.
