CONWAY, Ark. _ University of Central Arkansas' Jared Chatham capped a memorable Senior Night with a slam dunk in the closing seconds to send the Bears to an 83-76 victory over Eastern Kentucky in ASUN action on Saturday night at the Farris Center.

Chatham, a graduate forward from Los Angeles, continued his torrid play of late with a career-high 36 points, along with 16 rebounds and 3 assists, while shooting 66 percent from the field and going 8 of 8 at the free-throw line.

"I did not realize how much he did until I got the stat sheet,' said UCA head coach Anthony Boone. "I knew he had a good game and was solid. And Jared has been solid for us down this stretch, very solid for us. No one has been more consistent than him down the stretch.

"An amazing, amazing game. We've had great games here. We've seen Jordan Howard play here and he had some games where he scored more points than that. But to couple 36 points with 16 rebounds, that was really something. And it was very fitting for him to put the exclamation point on the end of the game.'

Chatham had 18 points and 8 rebounds at halftime as UCA led 40-26 after a 22-2 scoring run broke open a close game.

The Bears (9-17, 6-7), playing without one of their top offensive threats in Darious Hall, led by as much as 20 points in the first half, then made the necessary plays down the stretch to hold off the Colonels (9-17, 6-7) and secure the season sweep. UCA beat EKU by the same seven-point margin in the previous matchup (79-72) in Richmond, Ky., in the ASUN opener on Jan. 4.

The Colonels got within three points with 1:06 to play after finding their range from beyond the arc in the second half. But UCA answered every challenge, getting three free throws from freshman Camren Hunter, two more from sophomore Collin Cooper with 16 seconds left and Chatham's emphatic slam to end it. 

Hunter finished with 19 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and and 4 steals in nearly 36 minutes of action.

The Bears held the Colonels, one of the most prolific three-point shooting teams in the league to just 1 of 8 in the first half. They finished 8 of 25 (32 percent), including 3 of 6 from 6-foot-7 forward Michael Moreno. He led EKU with 19 points, while Curt Lewis had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

"We made some mistakes down the stretch, but the guy's effort, their intensity, their desire to pull it out was what caused us to win this game.'

The win solidified the Bears' hold on third place in the ASUN West Division. The third and fourth seeds from each division will host first-round games in the ASU Tournament, beginning March 1.

"That's a push we're trying to make,' said Boone. "We want to be able to play a game at home in the conference tournament. And the guys know that. We've been saying that every other day, and taking each game one at a time. And however many games we can win to help secure that, that's what we want to do.'

The Bears host Liberty at 7 p.m. Monday in a makeup game from January. UCA then closes the regular season with a pair of road games, at North Alabama on Wednesday and at Lipscomb on Saturday.