CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears got a second consecutive double-double from senior Eddy Kayouloud on Saturday afternoon and used it to beat the Austin Peay Governors 76-69 in ASUN Conference action at the Farris Center.

Kayouloud, UCA's only senior, had 24 points and 10 rebounds as the Bears avenged an earlier road loss to the Governors. Kayouloud scored 16 of his points in the second half when the Bears held off all of APSU's rally attempts. The Bears shot 47.5 percent from the field and held the Governors to just 38.3 percent.

The Bears did not have a particularly good shooting day from the perimeter _ going 4 of 16 from three-point range _ but made up the difference by outscoring the Governors 40-34 in points in the paint. UCA held an opponent to less than 70 points for the first time in conference play this season.

"We've been talking about defending and rebounding, and we defended and rebounded," said UCA acting head coach Brock Widders. "And the offense remains there. And that's exactly what we just talked about in the locker room. 

"We held a team with some talented players to 38 percent from the field, we got 13 offensive rebounds, and I don't even know what happened offensively. but I do know that we defended and rebounded, and those had been the keys." 

UCA had three others in double figures, with sophomore Camren Hunter scoring 13, sophomore Elias Cato 12 and redshirt freshman V.J. Reeves 11. The Bears held their turnovers to single digits for the third straight game and finished with just nine. 

The Bears led by as much as 15 points in the second half before the Governors cut the deficit to six points twice, the last with just 1:48 to play. But each time, UCA answered. Kayouloud and Reeves both made baskets and Hunter went 3 of 4 at the free-throw line in the final 40 seconds to seal it.

Kayouloud, a 1,500-point career scorer and 750 rebounder, was 10 of 12 from the field, 1 of 1 from three-point range and 3 of 4 at the free-throw line. He added an assist and two blocked shots.

"Ten of 12 from the field, that's really, really hard to do against air," said Widders. "And 10 rebounds, that's a nice double-double for Eddy. An assist and zero turnovers for as much time as he has the ball in his hands. But more than anything, he defended and rebounded, along with every single one of them.

"It's great to see Eddy have another one of those performances. I told him before the game, this is the last Saturday he gets to play in the Farris Center. That's sad, but he definitely honored that today."

Cato, a redshirt freshman from Queensland, Australia, returned to the starting lineup and had 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocked shots.

"I sound like a broken record, but again, Elias is a guy who defends and rebounds. I'm really a little surprised that his rebounds are only two tonight, but I know that Elias is in the mix on a lot of boards. He gets his hands on a lot of basketballs and keeps things alive.

"Elias is a tough guy. He made the most of his minutes, the most of his start. So I liked what we got out of Elias."

Reeves, who came off the bench, had 11 points, 4 rebounds, and made two of UCA's four three-pointers.

"VJ came off the bench and he decided he was going to guard," said Widders. "He looked like someone that was determined and he hit the glass like he was determined. We all know how good VJ is on the offensive end, how skilled he is as an offensive player, a natural scorer. 

"But I thought this was really one his most all-around games and I was really happy to see that."

UCA, with four regular-season games remaining, hits the road next week for two games at Eastern Kentucky on Thursday and at Bellarmine on Sunday.