Conway, Ark. - Central Arkansas (2-1) scored the first 18 points and went on to defeat Ecclesia (0-6) 127-54 on Tuesday night. The 127 points were the second most in a game in program history. Six Central Arkansas players scored in double digits. Central Arkansas finished with 32 assists, 20 3-pointers and 83 bench points, with the 20 3-point baskets marking the most in program history.
Central Arkansas moved in front immediately, turning early Ecclesia turnovers into an 18-0 lead by 15:50 as
Harry Beauchamp,
Luke Moore and
Tucker Anderson hit 3-pointers and
Ty Robinson added free throws and a layup. Ecclesia got on the board with a 3 at 15:50 and later made it 24-10 with another 3-pointer at 13:21, but Central Arkansas answered with a 12-0 stretch that included baskets from
Simm-Marten Saadi,
Rylie Marshall,
R.J. Young, Robinson and Saadi again. After another Royal 3-pointer made it 36-13, Central Arkansas scored the next 15 points, with Moore and
Camarion Bead hitting 3-pointers and
Isaiah Templeton,
Andrew Hoerner and Anderson adding baskets to push the lead to 51-13. Ecclesia added scores late in the half, but Central Arkansas continued to score inside and at the line, closing the half with
Cole McCormick's fast-break layup and Moore's layup before taking a 71-23 lead into halftime. The 71 points scored in the half were the most points scored in a half in Central Arkansas's Division I era.
Central Arkansas worked through the paint early in the second half, getting a Saadi dunk, a Bead layup and a Marshall layup before
Cole McCormick's 3-pointer pushed the score to 80-26 at 16:39, then Young dunked and Bead scored twice around a couple Royal jumpers. Central Arkansas answered at 10:13 with a
R.J. Newton tip-in, a Templeton 3-pointer, a
J.C. Shulman 3-pointer and a Templeton dunk to make it 96-32. Ecclesia got scoring from three different Royals to reach 96-42, and after Saadi's free throw and another Roylals basket made it 97-44, Central Arkansas scored 12 straight from 6:36 to 4:26 behind Bead's free throw, a Templeton 3-pointer and free throw, Shulman's 3-pointer, Newton's layup and Templeton's layup. After Ecclesia broke the run with a 3-pointer, Hoerner hit from deep and Templeton added two more 3-pointers to make it 118-48 at 3:06, and Central Arkansas traded late scores with Ecclesia, including baskets by Young, Newton and Shulman, to close a 127-54 win.
Isaiah Templeton
- 19 points
- 7/9 field goals made
- 4/6 3-pointers made
Tucker Anderson
- 15 points
- 5/8 3-pointers made
- 4 rebounds
Camarion Bead
- 14 points
- 5/6 free throws made
- 2 steals
Andrew Hoerner
- 8 assists
- 5 rebounds
- 5 points
John Shulman
- 9 points
- 3/5 3-pointers made
- 2 steals
Up next, the Bears visit the University of Arkansas on Friday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark.
