LYNCHBURG, Va.. _ The shorthanded University of Central Arkansas Bears were even shorter than expected Saturday night in an 82-62 loss to the Liberty Flames in ASUN Conference action at Liberty Arena.

The Bears played without two starters _ one expected and one lost just prior to tip-off _ and a pair of key reserves. Still the Bears hung with the Flames for much of the game, which pleased acting head coach Brock Widders.

"Like I just told the guys, everyone wants to win," said Widders, serving in place of head coach Anthony Boone. "Everyone in that locker room wants to win. I told them to get their heads up because they need to be proud of the effort they put out there. There is a reality that we're down four players. but that doesn't mean we're going to quit fighting. 

"I thought we were the first ones to loose balls tonight, we were the first ones to 50/50 balls. I thought every time they punched, we punched back. Obviously it got a little out of hand there in the last eight minutes But overall, I can't be frustrated with their effort."

The Bears were without starting guard Masai Olowokere and starting forward Ibbe Klintman, along with backup center Churchill Bounds, then lost starting forward Elias Cato after just 11 minutes of action. Junior guard Collin Cooper did return for his first action since ASUN play began and turned in a much-needed 28 minutes.

The Bears, coming off a 92-91 victory over Queens University on Thursday on the first leg of their road trip, shot a respectable 44.8 percent from the field in the second half but were already down 43-29 at halftime. UCA had three in double figures, with sophomore guard Camren Hunter and freshman Johannes Kirsipuu scoring 14 points each and redshirt freshman V.J. Reeves adding 11.

UCA made seven three-pointers after connecting on 15 against Queens. The Flames (14-5, 5-1) got 32 points from senior Darius McGhee, the ASUN's leading scorer, to improve their home record to 11-1. McGhee was 11 of 24 from the field and was 5 of 16 from three-point range after going 1 for 7 from beyond the arc in the first half. Liberty shot 46.8 percent from the field and went 13 of 36 (36.1 percent) from beyond the arc.

"The thing about Darius McGhee is he's made so many shots in his life that when he's 1 for 7 from three (in the first half), he's not worried about it," said Widders. "The coaches aren't worried about it, nobody else is worried about it, because they all belive the next one is going in. So hats of to Darius McGhee."

The Bears also handled the boisterous crowd of 3,648 well, according to Widders.

"It was a fun environment for sure," said Widders. "A great job by their fan base. But I thought our guys kept their cool and did a good job of staying together and playing basketball."

The Bears return home for the first time since Jan. 5 on Wednesday when they host the North Alabama Lions at 7 p.m. at the Farris Center.