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CONWAY, Ark. _ When the University of Central Arkansas Bears take on the Lipscomb Bisons at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Farris Center, the two winningest coaches, percentage wise, in Alabama-Huntsville basketball history will be on opposite benches.
UCA head coach John Shulman coached at UAH the past five seasons and had a .741 winning percentage and a 112-39 record. Lipscomb head coach Lennie Acuff preceded him at UAH from 1997-2019 and won 436 games with a winning percentage of .670.
They will meet for the first time Saturday as Atlantic Sun Conference head coaches.
The Bisons (13-7, 5-2) were in first place in the ASUN until Thursday's loss at North Alabama. UCA dropped a two-point decision at home to Austin Peay and stands 5-15 overall and 1-6 in conference play.
The Bears and Bisons split a pair of league games last season, with the road team winning each time. UCA was on fire from three-point range in the first matchup, setting a school record with 19 threes.
Tucker Anderson had six, while
Daniel Sofield and
Masai Olowokere both went 4 for 4 from the arc. The Bears shot 61.3 percent from three-point range and 53.3 percent overall.
Five players scored in double figures for the Bears, led by Tucker's 26 points. Lipscomb had six in double figures but managed only eight three-pointers.
Lipscomb turned the tables in the game in Conway, shooting 54 percent from the field and canning 11 threes. UCA made 10 from the arc but finished with eight less field goals.
This season, the Bisons were picked to win the ASUN in the preseason polls after returning nine lettermen, including two preseason All-ASUN selections in Jacob Ognacevic and Will Pruitt. They have won nine of their last 11 games, but both losses came in conference play, to Queens at home and at North Alabama.
Ognacevic, who missed all of last season with an injury, leads the ASUN in scoring at 18.8 points per game and is third in rebounding at 7.7 per game. Another key contributor this season is Jacksonville transfer Gyasi Powell, who surpassed the 1,000-point career scoring mark recently. He is averaging 11.2 points this season.
UCA had a pair of sophomores record double-doubles in Thursday's tough 73-71 loss to Austin Peay at the Farris Center in its first home game since Jan. 4. Point guard
Brayden Fagbemi had 13 points and a career-high 10 assists, while
Michael Evbagharu had 11 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.