Bears fall in tough battle with Colonels

CONWAY, Arkansas — A couple of late misfires were the difference in a hard-fought Southland Conference battle at the Farris Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Nicholls Colonels got a pair of free throws with 6.5 seconds remaining to give themselves enough of a cushion to survive UCA’s late three-pointer and hold on for a 74-72 victory. The Colonels (6-5) improved to 4-1 in conference play while the Bears (3-10) dropped to 2-3.

“I think this game was going exactly how we wanted it to with our defensive schemes and what we were doing offensively,’ said UCA head coach Anthony Boone. “But just a few possessions down the stretch where we took some ill-advised shots, some bad shots, was the difference in the game.’

UCA’s Jared Chatham and Rylan Bergersen carried the Bears on both ends of the floor. Bergersen, a senior from Boise, Idaho, scored a game-high 24 points, one short of tying his career high, and nailed the three-pointer at the buzzer to set the two-point final. Chatham, a senior from Los Angeles, scored 14 points and pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds.

The rebound total was the most for a UCA player since Mathieu Kamba had 15 vs. Arizona State in 2016.

‘Jared had an incredible game,’ said Boone. “He had great energy and he really attacked the boards.’

As a team, the Bears made 17 of 19 (89.5 percent) at the free-throw line, including 6 of 6 from Bergersen and 6 of 7 from Chatham.

Much of the Colonels’ offense came from the perimeter as they went 10 of 33 (30.3 percent) from beyond the arc. Senior guard Kevin Johnson made five of those. The Bears were just 5 of 18 from three-point range, with Bergersen and junior center SK Shittu connecting twice each.

Bergersen and junior Eddy Kayouloud have had to fill the void with the absense of senior point guard DeAndre Jones, lost to a knee injury two weeks ago. The duo combined for seven assists and just three turnovers whle both playing 30+ minutes.

“Rylan and Eddy both did a great job taking care of the ball,’ said Boone. “I thought those two guys in the last game we played, despite the outcome at Stephen F. (Austin), they did a good job handling the ball and running the team. Rylan is making some great strides in that role. We still want to give him a break and get him off the ball some, and we have to do a better job of that. But those guys did a great, great job.’

The Bears overcame a 10-point deficit in the first half and ended up leading 42-40 at the half after Kayouloud tipped in a shot at the buzzer. The Colonels made seven first-half three-pointers but the Bears counterd by shooting 48.5 percent overall and winning the rebound battled 22-15 in the opening half.

UCA’s shooting fell off somewhat in the second half (33.3 percent) but they still finished strong, answering a 14-1 scoring by the Colonels with an 8-2 spurt of their own late in the half. Chatham gave the Bears their final lead of the game at 65-64 with an inside basket with 4:40 left.

“That’s what I told the guys, this was a step in the right direction, maybe a couple of steps,’ said Boone. “We’re kind of reforming what our image is without DeAndre. We were a little bit better at playing kind of a free-forming offense with him in there because he was so good at bringing the ball up the floor and just entering us into what we were trying to do.

“And nothing against Rylan, because he’s doing a great job. He’s just a bigger body and not as swift as DJ. And we were doing a great job of attacking inside, attacking the paint, posting up with several different guys, and getting to the line quite a bit. We did a great job of that. Like I said, it was just a few key possessions there in the second half. Down the stretch, just a couple of poor shots.’

Junior Khaleem Bennett added 11 points and SK Shittu had 10 for the Bears. Johnson led the Colonels with 17 points, followed by Najee Garvin with 16.

UCA has an open date next Wednesday before traveling to league-leader Abilene Christian next Saturday.