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NASHVILLE, Tenn. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears will make their first appearance in the Atlantic Sun Championship in three years on Sunday night when they face the Stetson Hatters at 6 p.m. at Allen Arena on the Lipscomb campus.

Ironically, the last time the Bears made the ASUN Tournament, they opened against the same Stetson team in March of 2022. UCA beat Stetson 74-73 at the Farris Center before losing on the road at Jacksonville in the quarterfinals.

The Bears are the No. 10 seed with an 8-23 overall record and a 4-14 mark in league play. The Hatters have the same overall record but finished 6-12 in conference play to earn the No. 9 seed. The UCA-Stetson winner will face No. 1 seed Lipscomb at 6 p.m. Monday in the quarterfinals.

The Bears and Hatters only played once this season, in early January in DeLand, Fla., with Stetson winning 75-65. UCA overcame one of its worst starts of the season, facing a 43-21 deficit at halftime. However, the Bears outscored the Hatters 44-32 in the second half to make it a game. They closed the gap to just five points with 1:35 to play after trailing by 18 points with five minutes remaining.

UCA, which has battled a rash of injuries throughout the season, finished the regular season against both co-champions in North Alabama last Monday in Conway and at Lipscomb last Wednesday at Allen Arena in Nashville. 

Stetson was 1-9 in its last 10 games, with a home victory over last-place Bellarmine on Monday as the lone victory during that stretch. The Hatters are led by junior guard Mehki Ellison, who averages 14.8 points per game and has a team-high 47 three-pointers. Three other Hatters average double figures, including senior forward Josh Massey (11.8), graduate forward Jordan Wood (11.7) and freshman guard Jamie Phillips Jr. (11.5). 

With the absence of leading scorer Layne Taylor due to shoulder surgery, the Bears are led by senior Elias Cato at 14.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Sophomore Brayden Fagbemi is averaging 11.1 points and 4.7 assists, which ranks second in the ASUN.

In the first meeting, freshman Cole McCormick led four Bears in double figures with 14 points. Ellison topped the Hatters with 19 points. Stetson made 11 three-pointers to UCA's nine and shot 16 free throws to UCA's seven. The Bears won the rebound battle 39-36, led by sophomore Michael Evbagharu with 10 boards to go with his 11 points.