Jan 27th, 2007 11:30PM
by:

By STEVE EAST
UCA SID

CONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas Bears finished in a big way Saturday night, beating the Nicholls State Colonels 64-53 in Southland Conference play at the Farris Center.

The Bears (7-14, 2-6), who had been having rouble late in recent games, blistered the nets for 56.5 percent in the second half and made 13 of 14 free throws to hold off the stubborn Colonels (3-18, 2-5). The victory broke a four-game losing streak for the Bears, who had chances to win most of those games but faltered down the stretch.

“At halftime, we talked about toughness and determination," said UCA head coach Rand Chappell. “That’s what we thought we could maybe get a little more of. We came out and played excellent defense early in the second half and got right back in the game.

"We turn around and shoot 56 percent in the second half. I told the guys, just hold them under 60 points because I know we’re going to score at least 60 points. The guys just kept working."

UCA made only seven field goals in the first half (7 of 32) and shot a miserable 22 percent. That made for a 28-21 halftime deficit that could have been worse had the Bears not played solid defense. Junior Durrell Nevels held NSU’s Stefan Blaszczynski, the leading scorer in the conference at 19.4 points per game, to only three points in the first half.

Blaszczysnki finished with 19 points, with most of those coming late in the game. Nevels more than matched that with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.

“Durrell had an excellent game, and the numbers show that,’ Chappell said. “Durrell gave us a really good effort against Blaszczynski. I thought it worked out even better than we had hoped. He made him work hard and really did a good job."

The Bears got back in the game quickly in the second half with a 9-0 run and tied the game at 30-30 with 15:25 remaining. The last tie came midway through the half at 41-41, and the Bears never trailed again. UCA pushed the lead to nine points on a pair of free throws by senior Fred Campbell around the 1:00 mark.

The Bears were 8 of 8 from the line in the final minute.

Junior guard Nate Bowie led the Bears with 15 points, hitting 8 of 8 free throws. Freshman guard Marcus Pillow had 10 points and 4 assists, while senior center Fernando Johnson had 8 points and 7 rebounds. UCA made 19 of 22 at the line (86.4 percent), while NSU made only 4 of 5, despite both teams having 16 fouls each.

UCA hosts the University of the Ozarks in nonconference action at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Farris Center, then returns to conference play next Saturday at Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La. Tipoff is 2 p.m.