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Bears return home looking for win

The Bears and Colonels will be meeting for the 29th time, with Nicholls holding a 17-11 series advantage. However, UCA is 7-6 in games played at the Farris Center.

CONWAY, Ark — The University of Central Arkansas Bears return home to the Farris Center on Saturday looking to get back in the win column.

The Bears (3-9, 2-2) will host the Nicholls Colonels at 4 p.m. following the women’s game at 1 p.m.

The Bears, after opening the Southland Conference season with a 2-0 mark, have dropped consecutive games to two of the league favorites, Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin. The Colonels (5-5, 3-1), after losing their SLC opener, are riding a three-game winning streak after victories over Lamar, Southeastern Louisiana and Northwestern State, teams with a combined three SLC wins.

The Bears and Colonels will be meeting for the 29th time, with Nicholls holding a 17-11 series advantage. However, UCA is 7-6 in games played at the Farris Center, including last year’s 84-65 victory on Feb. 22, which earned a season split. In that game, UCA guard Rylan Bergersen scored a game-high 25 points as the Bears shot 53.8 percent from the field for the game. The Bears ran out to a 41-18 halftime lead by holding the Colonels to just eight field goals and 24.2-percent shooting in the first half.

Nicholls won the first meeting 79-72 in Thibodaux, La., in January by overcoming a 13-point halftime deficit and outscoring UCA 49-29 in the final 20 minutes. UCA was led by point guard DeAndre Jones with 26 points, going 6 for 7 from three-point range as UCA made 11 (of 21) threes for the game. The Colonels got 24 points from Elvis Harvey and 20 from Little Rock native Andre Jones.

The Bears and Colonels have split the past four meetings after a three-game winning streak by Nicholls in 2017-18.

Bergersen, a senior from Boise, Idaho, leads the Bears in scoring, averaging 17.3 points per game. He has scored in double figures in all 11 games he has played this season, 16 consecutive games dating back to last season and 26 of his last 27 games. Bergersen also leads the Bears in assists at 4.0 per game.

Sophomore Khaleem Bennett, who has started the past eight games and averaged 14.2 points over the past five games, has been a spark for the Bears, both offensively and defensively, as has senior Jared Chatham (8.1 points per game), who is UCA’s leading rebounder (5.5) and has a pair of double-doubles.

The Colonels are led by junior guard Ty Gordon who is averaging 14.4 points and 3.9 assists per game. Najee Garvin, a 6-foot-7, 210-pound forward, is next at 13.0 points and a team-best 7.2 rebounds per game, which ranks fifth in the conference.

Nicholls is coming off a 76-66 road victory over Northwestern State on Wednesday in Natchitoches, La., Defensively, the Colonels held the Demons to just 38.7-percent shooting overall and 20 percent (4 of 20) from three-point range. Garvin topped Nicholls with 19 points, followed by Gordon with 17 (and 11 rebounds and 8 assists) and Jones with 13.

The game will be carried live on The Bear 91.3 with Justin Acri.

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