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FORT MYERS, Fla. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears will hope for a better start when they close out their first Florida trip against the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles at 1 p.m. (CST) Saturday from Alico Arena.

The Bears dropped a 10-point decision at Stetson on Thursday night, despite nearly overcoming a 22-point first half deficit in their ASUN matchup in DeLand, Fla. A quicker start would be ideal Saturday against the Eagles, who are 2-1 in ASUN play after a 75-70 win over North Alabama on Thursday. FGCU is 7-9 overall.

The Bears dropped to 5-11 overall and 1-2 in league play with Thursday's loss. 

The Eagles lead the series with the Bears 3-1, with last year's 82-59 victory by FGCU in Conway the only of the four meetings that was not close. The first three matchups were decided by an average of 3.6 points.

A year ago at the Farris Center, the Eagles had four players in double figures and shot 53.2 percent from the field while making 14 three-pointers. UCA had just three score at least 10 points, shot 34.8 percent overall and made just 6 of 26 from beyond the arc.

Against Stetson, UCA got 14 points from freshman Cole McCormick, the first Bears other than Elias Cato or Layne Taylor to lead UCA in scoring since the Nov. 21 game against Southeast Missouri, when sophomore Brayden Fagbemi scored 20 points in an overtime loss.

UCA struggled from the field, shooting 34.2 percent overall and going 9 of 39 from three-point range. The Hatters shot 52 percent on their home court and made 11 three-pointers. UCA took 23 more shots than Stetson, had a season-high 23 offensive rebounds and turned the ball over just nine times.

The Bears, trailing 43-21 at halftime, outscored the Hatters 44-32 in the second half. But the 21 points was the second-lowest first-half scoring output of the season for UCA, which scored 18 points at Utah.

UCA will be back in the Sunshine State again next week when they take on North Florida on Thursday and Jacksonville on Saturday, both in Jacksonville, Fla.