LIVE VIDEO
LIVE AUDIO
LIVE STATS

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears wil get another shot at the Jacksonville Dolphins on Thursday, this time in the quarterfinals of the 2022 ASUN Championship.

UCA and Jacksonville will meet at 6 p.m. (CT) at Swisher Gymnasium, the second time in just more than a month. The Dolphins shot lights out in the second half to hand the Bears a 79-59 loss on Jan. 29. 

UCA is the third seed from the ASUN West Division, while Jacksonville is No. 2 from the East, which earned it a first-round bye on Tuesday. The Bears hosted East No. 6 Stetson on Tuesday at the Farris Center and got a rousing 74-73 victory in front of a crowd of more than 2,000 on Scottie Pippen Court at the Farris Center.

The game was not decided until the final second, literally, as Stetson's Christiaan Jones missed both ends of a two-shot free throw opportunity with the Hatters trailing by just one. UCA's Jared Chatham pulled down the rebound to secure UCA's first home postseason victory in the NCAA Division I era.

Sophomore Collin Cooper scored a career-high 21 points and went 5 of 8 from three-point range in the second half as UCA overcame a 14-point deficit in the opening minutes of the second half. Junior Eddy Kayouloud added 17 points and 11 rebounds for his seventh career double-double. UCA also went 9 of 10 at the free-throw line, and needed every one of them.

Despite an off night shooting, guard Camren Hunter finished with 8 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists on the day he was named the ASUN Freshman of the Year.

The Dolphins dropped their regular-season finale on Saturday (76-69) to Florida Gulf Coast on the road in Fort Myers, Fla., The loss broke a five-game winning streak for Jacksonville, which has yet to lose at home this season (14-0).

The Dolphins are led by junior guard Kevion Nolan, who has connected on 60 three-pointers and averages 14.9 points per game. Jones had just 7 points and 4 rebounds in the first meeting with the Bears but the Dolphins got 22 points from Tyreese Davis and and 14 from Mike Marsh. The Dolphins shot 66.6 percent from the field in the second half to break open a four-point game at halftime.

Kayouloud had another double-double for the Bears with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Cooper scored 17, with five three-pointers. UCA was playing its first full game without starting junior Darious Hall, who injured his shoulder in the previous game at North Florida.

The winner of the UCA-JU game will advance to the semifinals on Saturday, with an opponent and site to be determined.