CONWAY, Ark. _ The Jacksonville Dolphins shot 64 percent from the field in the second half Saturday afternoon to pull away to a 74-64 victory over the University of Central Arkansas Bears in ASUN play at the Farris Center.

UCA trailed by three at halftime (30-27) despite shooting just 33.3 percent overall and going 4 of 15 from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes. The Bears then briefly took a 32-31 lead on an inside basket by senior Eddy Kayouloud with 17 minutes remaining.

But the Dolphins (12-9, 5-5) put together an 11-0 run to stretch their lead, which eventually reached 18 points at the 7:18 mark. UCA (7-16, 2-8) fought back to within nine points at 66-59 on Collin Cooper's three-pointer at the 2:35 mark. The Bears would get no closer as the Dolphins controlled the final two minutes.

"I've been searching for answers and all I can do is tip the cap to Jacksonville," said UCA acting head coach Brock Widders. "They came out of halftime and executed their game plan on the offensive end exactly how they wanted to execute it. 

"We threw post traps at them, we threw ball screen traps at them, we did a lot of different things and they were poised and they were patient and they executed very well."

UCA finished 10 of 30 from three-point range after the slow start, including three each from Cooper, Camren Hunter and Masai Olowokere. Hunter led the Bears with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. Cooper scored 13 points and Kayouloud added 12 points and 7 rebounds. The Bears finished with just eight turnovers against one of the most active defenses in the league.

"Jacksonville is a team, they hang their hat on defense," said Widders. "You look in the conference, they're No. 1 in most defensive numbers. Their overall urgency on defense can cause you to speed up your shot, and I thought we did that several times. And I thought we had some really good looks, but I'm a little sped up because of their urgency. And again, credit to those guys.

"Every time we touched the paint, we did get good looks. We did end up making a lot of threes but overall that percentage is not that great. And I think we could have knocked down a few more."

The Dolphins, who have alternated wins and losses in all 10 of their ASUN games, got 19 points from guard Jordan Davis and 17 points and 11 rebounds from forward Osayi Osifo. Jacksonville was 2 of 13 from beyond the arc in the first half but made 5 of 9 in the second half.

UCA sophomore Elias Cato returned to the lineup from injury and played 22 minutes off the bench and blocked a career-high four shots. The Bears were playing without starter Ibbe Klintman and inside presence Churchill Bounds.

"Very, very happy to have Elias back," said Widders. "I thought he gave a lot of effort and a lot of energy. He changes things on the defensive end, he alters shots, he can keep the guards in front of him and he can guard bigs. Obviously just a tad rusty today offensively. He's shot it well this season but he's had a hard time on that (injured) ankle getting up shots lately. 

"We're looking for him to really get back in a rhythm next week."

UCA hits the road for a two-game Florida swing next week, playing at Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday night (6 p.m CT) and at Stetson (1 p.m. CT) on Saturday afternoon.