CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A three-point barrage paired with a defensive stop in the final seconds carried the University of Central Arkansas Bears to a hard-fought and satisfying 92-91 victory over the Queens Royals on Thursday night in their first meeting at Curry Arena.
The Bears earned their first ASUN Conference win of the season by knocking down a season-high 15 three-pointers and getting a career-high 33 points from sophomore guard Camren Hunter. Hunter and company then held the Royals scoreless over the final 20 seconds, with UCA’s lone senior Eddy Kayouloud pulling down Queens’ missed shot at the buzzer.
“We’ve gone through a lot lately and all we’ve talked about is staying together and keep fighting,” said UCA’s acting head coach Brock Widders. “We’ve gone through adversity in the last two weeks, and we went through adversity in the last 20 seconds of that game. All we did was stay together and keep fighting.”
The Bears, playing their third game without head coach Anthony Boone, scored their season high in points against an NCAA Division I opponent, and needed every one of them. UCA, down by at much as 10 points in the first half, nailed 11 three-pointers (of 18) in the first half to eventually grab a 51-44 lead at the break.
The second half was just as competitive as the Royals (12-6, 2-3) outscored the Bears (6-12, 1-4) 13-5 in the first six minutes of the half. But UCA re-took the lead at 59-57 and never trailed again. One final three-pointer from Hunter, who was 4 of 9 from beyond the arc, gave UCA an 89-83 lead with 2:00 left.
Queens made two more threes to cut the margin to just 91-89 with 40.5 remaining. UCA freshman Johannes Kirsipuu made 1 of 2 at the free-throw line but Queens answered with two free throws to make it 92-91 with 32.4 seconds on the clock. UCA turned the ball over on an inbounds pass and the Royals called a time out with 27.1 seconds showing.
UCA forced a jump ball with Queens retaining possession at the 6.8 mark, with the shot clock at 5.0. Queens guard Kenny Dye, their leading scorer on the season, missed a contested jumper in the lane and Kayouloud secured the miss as time expired.
Hunter was 11 of 20 from the field and 7 of 7 from the free-throw line. Kirsipuu, returning from an injury, was 3 of 5 on three-pointers and tied his career high with 14 points. Redshirt freshman V.J. Reeves added 14 points, going 4 of 6 from beyond the arc, and adding 8 rebounds. Kayouloud finished with 9 points and 6 rebounds, wearing the No. 41 jersey in honor of Boone, who wore the number during his playing career at Ole Miss. Boone had heart surgery a week ago.
A.J. McKee scored 22 points for the Royals, who had five players in double figures and made 12 three-pointers.
UCA shot 45.2 percent from the field for the game (54.8 percent in the first half) and 48.4 percent (15 of 31) from three-point range. The Bears, who have played five games in 13 days with three on the road, continued their hot hand at the free-throw line, going 21 of 24 (87.5 percent) on the night.
“Heart, (is what) it really was,” said Widders. “We’ve talked about rest, we gave them Sunday and Monday off. But at the end of the day it’s heart. We’ve talked about that, we’ve talked about fighting, and I really think it says something (about this team).
“We were working on moving the ball, moving the ball, moving the ball, and we did a good job of that tonight. We knew we’d get some open looks, and overall, our guys are believing in themselves. We know the type of shooters they are, and that’s why they’re here. So we’ve just tried to instill belief in them over the last week or so.”
Hunter, who was ill for UCA’s last road game at Austin Peay on Saturday but still played 28 minutes, logged 36 minutes on Thursday, adding 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals to his stat sheet, and a big defensive stop on the final play.
“He’s incredible,” said Widders. “You can look at his points, he obviously had 33 and that’s incredible. But the type of teammate he is, the type of worker he is, is what gets him to this point right here. You can’t say enough about Cam Hunter. That is the type of kid he is.”
UCA continues its road trip tonight, taking on the Liberty Flames in a 6 p.m. (CT) matchup in Lynchburg, Va.
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