FLORENCE, Ala. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears had a different look Saturday night from what they had when they played the North Alabama Lions four days before at the Farris Center.

Playing without leading scorer Camren Hunter, along with four other Bears, UCA fought hard before dropping an 82-66 decision in ASUN Conference action at Flowers Hall. Hunter had a triple-double against the Lions on Wednesday but missed the rematch with an illness.

UCA got solid effort from all eight Bears who saw action, including a first career double-double from freshman forward Johan Crafoord. He had 16 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes of action, all of which are season highs. Junior guard Collin Cooper finished with a team-high 18 points, and added 5 rebounds and 3 assists and went 9 of 11 at the free-throw line.

The Lions, who won 78-73 in Conway, hit three three-pointers in the final minutes to stretch the final score. They finished with 13 (of 26) threes, including seven from Daniel Ortiz. UCA was within striking distance, down by just nine points, with four minutes remaining.

"Certainly I thought our effort was really, really good tonight," said acting head coach Brock Widders. "I hate that it ended like it did, for the guys, who put so much into it tonight," said UCA acting head coach Brock Widders. "Because I thought for 37 minutes we played quality basketball. I told the guys, I thought we actually played a better game tonight than we did the last time we played them.

"If we played that way the first time we played them, I think we would have won that game. But tonight, iIt's just modern basketball, they hit too many threes against us. That was really the difference. But I was extremely proud of the way our guys prepared and they way the played tonight."

UCA was missing two starters, and several other key players due to injuries and illness. Because of that, several players contributed much more than they have all season, including junior guard Lewis McDaniel (16 minutes), sophomore center Jonas Munson (6 minutes) and Carl Daughtery, Jr. (11.5 minutes) off the bench.

Freshman point guard Johannes Kirsipuu, in his fifth career start, was solid in place of Hunter, with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists with just 2 turnovers.

"For Johannes Kirsipuu to take the film from two days ago and to turn around and play with that kind of poise and maturity as a freshman was really something," said Widders, in his sixth game in place of head coach Anthony Boone, who is out after surgery.

Crafoord, in just his 10th game of the season, was 7 of 11 from the field, 1 of 2 from three-point range and 1 of 1 at the free-throw line. He also blocked a pair of shots.

"I just praised him for that double-double in the locker room," Widders said. "I'm really happy for him, coming off an ACL injury. He's a really talented player. I'm happy for him but there are also some things he can improve on. And I know he wants to improve." 

The Bears return home next week for a pair of games against Florida teams. They host North Florida at 7 p.m. Thursday and Jacksonville at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Farris Center.