JACKSONVILLE, Ala. _ This time the University of Central Arkansas Bears earned the win, with earned being the operative word.

In another classic matchup with first-place Jacksonville State, the Bears turned in one of their best defensive efforts of the season on Saturday to hand the Gamecocks a 72-62 loss at Pete Mathews Coliseum. It was the second consecutive ASUN loss for JSU and just the third in 11 home games this season for the West Division leader.

JSU (16-9, 9-3) had pulled out an 86-81 victory over UCA back in January in a wild game at the Farris Center that featured 24 lead changes and 11 ties. This time, UCA answered every run down the stretch after the Gamecocks erased a nine-point halftime deficit to tie the game at 46-46 at the midway point of the second half. Freshman guard Camren Hunter led the Bears with 13 of his team-high 21 points in the second half, including four clinching free throws in the final 45 seconds.

Hunter, from Bryant, Ark., tied his career high with 21 points, and added 8 rebounds, 7 assists and a career-high 5 steals.

"That was the focus, especially after the last couple of games,' said UCA head coach Anthony Boone. "We had to sell out defensively. That was the challenge to the guys these last couple of days. If we can sell out defensively, we can win here. It doesn't matter that they beat us (before) and now we're on their floor. 

"And the guys came out and did just that.'

UCA out-shot JSU on its home court, hitting 45.3 percent overall and going 9 of 10 at the free-throw line. The Bears also got five three-pointers from four different players, including a pair from sophomore Collin Cooper. UCA also held JSU to 41 percent overall (25 of 61) and 7 of 23 from three-point range. The Gamecocks got back in the game by hitting six threes in the second half, but UCA weathered the storm.

"This is a very good win,' said Boone. "The guys were really locked in for this game. And hopefully we can bottle this up and open it back up in practice next week and do it again at home.'

UCA used a balanced scoring attack and a tenacious defensive effort to earn a 32-23 halftime lead. UCA got points from seven different players in the opening 20 minutes, including eight each from graduate forward Jared Chatham and Hunter. The Bears enjoyed as much as a 14-point lead (32-18) with 1:55 to play after a jumper by Chatham.

UCA was just 2 of 12 from three-point range in the first half, but Ibbe Klintman's three put UCA up 18-9 midway through the half. A three-pointer from Collin Cooper gave the Bears their first lead of the game at 7-4 with 15:30 to play.

In addition to Hunter, Chatham finished with another solid outing, scoring 16 points. Darious Hall, in just his second game back from injury, had 13 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, while junior Eddy Kayouloud added 11 points and 6 rebounds.

"Cam was incredible,' said Boone. 'He keeps giving me reasons to forget that he's a freshman. He's just incredible, I really can't say anything else. And Darious is starting to get his timing back. And we know it's just going to be a matter of time before he looks like he did in mid-season form.'

The Bears return home for their next three games, hosting Bellarmine next Wednesday, Eastern Kentucky on Saturday and Liberty on Monday, Feb. 21.