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CONWAY, Ark. _  The task is pretty straightforward for the University of Central Arkansas Bears on Friday night. They need a victory over North Alabama to have a shot at making the 2024 ASUN Tournament, which begins Monday.

The Bears also need the Jacksonville Dolphins to lose to Stetson at home in Jacksonville. The Bears and Dolphins are tied at 5-10 in the ASUN standings, in 10th place with 10 (of 12) teams making the field. If UCA finishes tied with Jacksonville, the Dolphins have the tiebreaker after beating the Bears during the regular season in their only meeting of the season in Jacksonville.

North Alabama sits 7-8 in league play and is already assured of a spot in the field, with its seeding still to be determined. 

The ASUN tournament is played at campus sites, with the top four seeds hosting on Monday. Should UCA make it in, the probable sites would be either current No. 1 Eastern Kentucky in Richmond, Ky., or current No. 2 Stetson in DeLand, Fla. Ironically, the Bears' last game was in Richmond, a 95-82 loss last Saturday.

The ninth and 10th seeds play on the home court of the No. 1 seed, with the winner facing the No. 1 seed on Tuesday. The Nos. 7-8 seeds play at No. 2 under the same scenario, with the winner facing the second seed the following night.

UCA beat North Alabama 84-81 in the first meeting back in the opening ASUN game of the season on Jan. 6 in Florence, Ala. The Bears raced out to a 46-28 halftime lead by shooting a blistering 66.7 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes.

But after the lead grew to a high of 23 points early in the second half, the Lions came back and cut the deficit to just two points at 81-79 with 8.6 seconds left. UCA freshman Tucker Anderson, who had a game-high 24 points, made a pair of free throws in the final seconds to seal it.

Sophomore Carl Daughtery, Jr., added 15 points and freshman Javion Guy-King had 11 for the Bears. Senior Masai Olowokere had 9 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.

Olowokere, graduate transfer Daniel Sofield and Brendan Simmons will be recognized in a pregame "Senior Night" ceremony Friday on Scottie Pippen Court.