Feb 3rd, 2007 06:04PM
by:

By STEVE EAST
UCA SID

NATCHITOCHES, La. — The University of Central Arkansas Bears slowed down but couldn’t stop the high-scoring Northwestern State Demons on Saturday and lost 78-66 in Southland Conference action at Prather Coliseum.

The Demons (12-9, 7-2) had scored 98 points in three of their last four games and were averaging 84 points in their 11 victories. The Bears held them in check for most of the game, but the Demons shot well enough to overcome the uncharacteristic point production. NSU shot 45 percent from the field and made seven 3-pointers and, more importantly, forced UCA into 26 turnovers.

NSU won its sixth consecutive game and averaged nearly 90 points in that stretch.

“I’m happy with our guys’ effort and what we were trying to do," said UCA head coach Rand Chappell. “We battled a very good team on their home court. But we talk about every day what you have to do to win, and today one of those things was not turn the ball over.

“We made some good plays and battled hard, and I thought, matched their energy. We just turned the ball over and gave them easy baskets.  But that’s what they’ve done to everybody lately. They make you play that way."

The Bears fell behind 13-4 to open the game after a Luke Rogers 3-pointer at the 15:10 mark. UCA answered with two guys off the bench, junior Nate Bowie and junior DaMarcus Bell. They combined to score the Bears’ next nine points and get UCA back in it at 15-13.

Junior starter Durrell Nevels, the Bears’ second leading scorer and the league’s top shot blocker, picked up two quick fouls and went to the bench with 17:18 left and sat for most of the half.

Bowie had 14 points in the first half, nearly twice his average. He gave the Bears their first lead with a 3-pointer from the right wing with 9:00 remaining. The Demons connected on three consecutive three-pointers to take a 29-4 lead with 4:50 left but Bowie made another three with 26 seconds left in the half as the Bears trailed 36-32 at the half.

An 11-2 run midway through the second half gave the Demons a 15-point lead. The Bears made seven consecutive free throws and Pillow nailed another 3-pointer to close the gap to nine points at 69-60 with 2:45 on the clock, but that was as close as the Bears would get.

The Demons made 5 of 6 free throws in the final 2:30 to hold off the Bears. King Cannon put in a layup at the end for the Bears to set the final at 12 points.

“Like we told them, to win on the road against good teams you have to have some guys knock down some shots," Chappell said. “Nate Bowie had a good game as far as shooting the ball, but some others didn’t. The bench did a good job keeping us in the game in the first half when we had our top three scorers in foul trouble."

Senior guard Eric Woods  scored 12 points for the Demons, the defending SLC champions who improved to 8-1 at home this season. Jermaine Spencer had 10 points, as did Trey Gilder off the bench.

For UCA (8-15, 2-7), Bowie finished with a career-high 21 points, hitting 4 of 8 from 3-point range. Nevels, who sat for all but four minutes in the first half, had 14 points in 17 minutes, while DaMarcus Bell added 11 points off the bench. UCA outrebounded NSU 41-29, with Fernando Johnson leading with 9 and Bell adding 8.

UCA hosts Stephen F. Austin at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Farris Center.