Third time’s a charm

It looked like it was going to be a long drive back to Arkansas for me and my wife. The Bears had given a good effort, but Georgia Southern was lining up to kick the game winner with just about 50 seconds left.



Throughout the game, two GSU alums had continually said, "we have the three worst kickers in football." And thank goodness they were right.



I don’t think the kick was blocked. It looked like a good snap and hold. But the kick was just about as ugly as a kick can be. It wasn’t just wide left or short. It was both.



GSU’s fans were shocked. UCA’s fans were shocked. The Bears were still alive – in overtime.



The Eagles got the ball first and the defense had probably its best series of the game. On third down and one, Jeremy Pittman made a tackle behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of two.



With no faith in the kicker anymore, they decided to go for it on fourth down. The call backfired as the defense forced a short throw. I’m not sure who was on the coverage – sorry I was screaming at the time – but he hit the receiver at the exact moment the ball got there and the receiver couldn’t handle it. I can’t really remember if he was even far enough for the first down, but it doesn’t matter.



The Bears powered the ball down to the 8 yard line to set up another field goal attempt. It was exactly what you were imagining if you were listening from home. Players on the sidelines were holding hands. Fans in the stands were crossing fingers.



FLASHBACK: James Paul came into the game 9-of-16 kicking field goals. Earlier in this game, he’d missed two, granted one was a 48 yarder.



From the left side of the field, James drilled the kick of 25 yards. Honestly, I have no idea how close it was to missing, but from my angle it looked perfect. Of course, anything between the uprights was going to be perfect in my eyes.



Suddenly, the 11+ hour drive home was going to be a good one.



The game gave GSU a 3-8 record for the season. The Bears on the other hand finish 8-3, not bad for a first year transition to beat a perennial powerhouse of I-AA football on its home field.



The local paper said "the teams are in transition." Well, the Bears transition has to be judged as a success.



We’re losing a group of 21 seniors that can’t have enough good things said about them. And next season may be more of a transition than this one, but who’s thinking about next season?



We’ve got a long drive tomorrow to think about the end of this one, and it’s going to be sweet.



I’ll see you guys when I wake up from my nap. Go Bears!

Bonnies need miracle shot to force OT, beat UCA

St. Bonaventure 69, Central Arkansas 64 (OT)

Leading by three points in the closing seconds of regulation, Central Arkansas’ victory at NCAA Division I St. Bonaventure (N.Y.) was all but secure. Then the nearly impossible happened.

St. Bonaventure’s Zarryon Fereti missed a 3-pointer with five seconds left, but the Bonnies kept possession when the ball went out of bounds off a UCA defender. Fereti didn’t miss his extra opportunity, this time nailing a 3-pointer to tie the game with 1.2 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime. The Bonnies outscored the Bears 8-3 in the overtime period to crush UCA’s hopes of an upset 1,100 miles away from home.

St. Bonaventure is a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The loss was UCA’s first after opening the season with a victory over Central Methodist (Mo.) Saturday.

UCA didn’t look much like an underdog in the game’s early minutes, running out to a 9-1 lead with 15:41 remaining in the first half. Frederick Campbell hit a 3-pointer and Durrell Nevels made a jumper during the first minute of the game to build a quick 5-1 lead, then LaMar Phillips and Fernando Johnson each made baskets over the next few minutes to establish the eight-point lead while UCA’s defense held the Bonnies without a field goal. The Bears’ lead twice grew to double digits in the first half – 26-16 with 7:22 remaining and 28-18 with 6:30 left – before they ultimately settled for a six-point lead at halftime, 30-24.

The Bears continued to hold the lead in the second half until the Bonnies tied the score at 37 with 13 minutes left in the game. Instead of getting discouraged, however, UCA fought to stay in the game. Five lead changes later, the Bears found themselves up by three with :13 showing after Nate Bowie made two nerve-racking free throws.

* Durrell Nevels led UCA with 16 points, making 8-of-14 from the field and collecting three blocked shots on the defensive end. Nevels is averaging 4.5 blocks per game so far this season, collecting six in the season opener.

* Despite a cold performance from 3-point range (0-for-7), Nate Bowie was the only other Bear to score in double figures, scoring 13 while making 4-of-14 field goals. He was 5-of-6 from the free throw line.

* It was St. Bonaventure’s 3-point shooting that aided their revival in the second half. The Bonnies made 7-of-11 treys in the second half (.636) after just making 1-of-9 in the first half. UCA was only .261 from 3-point range (6-of-23) after making more than 40 percent of their 3-point attempts in the season’s opener.

* Despite coming in off the bench, freshman Marcus Pillow played 30 minutes, earning more playing time than two of the starters. Pillow only attempted 3-points shots (he was 3-of-8 for nine points).

* The Bears were whistled for 24 personal fouls, twice the 12 received by the Bonnies. St. Bonaventure was only able to shoot .710 from the free throw line, however, making 22-of-31. UCA only attempted 10 free throws during the entire game, making six (.600).

*The announced crowd was 3,418 in St. Bonaventure’s Reilly Center (5,780 capacity). Jay Bilas, in a 2001 ESPN.com feature, ranked the Reilly Center as one of his "Top 5 Hostile Homes" in the nation.

Cold second half melts Sugar Bears

Tennessee-Martin 79, Sugar Bears 69

After leading for much of the first eight minutes of the second half, the UCA Sugar Bears hit a brick wall, missing seven consecutive field goals during a seven-minute span and committing four costly turnovers during that time to allow the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks to build a double-digit advantage. The Skyhawks held off a late UCA push to secure a 79-69 victory in the opening-season game for both teams in front of 754 at the

The Sugar Bears led 47-42 with 12 minutes left in the game, having confidently built the lead after trailing by five at halftime. Field goals by Alex Velazquez and Renita Dobbins to start the second half, followed by consecutive 3-pointers by Caronica Randle, allowed UCA to build its own five-point advantage, which was maintained eight minutes into the half.

But that’s when things started going bad for the Sugar Bears. The next time UCA made a field goal – a Lauren Williams jumper with 4:34 left in the game – they trailed Tennessee-Martin by 13, 66-53. UCA was able to manage six free throws during the dry spell.

Both teams couldn’t get much done amid sloppy play and quick referee whistles. The Sugar Bears and the Skyhawks combined to commit 56 personal fouls (29 for UCA; 27 for UT-M) and 49 turnovers (35 for UT-M, 14 for UCA).

• UCA’s Caronica Randle was the game’s leading scorer with 26 points. She was 7-of-17 from the field (3-of-6 from 3-point range), and made 9-of-11 free throws. She played all but four minutes of the game.
  
  
• The Sugar Bears didn’t have an answer for Skyhawk Phyllisha Mitchell on the boards. Mitchell collected 18 total rebounds, one more than the 17 collected by all of the UCA players combined. In contrast, UCA’s leading rebounder was Randle with five.
  
  
• UCA’s starting guards – Lauren Williams and Renita Dobbins – were a combined 6-of-22 from the field (.272). They did have a combined 10 assists, however.
  
  
• Sugar Bear Mariesha Piggee came off the bench to score 10 points in 21 minutes. Other than Randle, she was the only UCA player to score double-digits.
  
  
• Seven Sugar Bears finished with three or more fouls. Dobbins, however, was the only UCA player to foul out – Randle, Shareca Love, Alex Velazquez and Meaghen Kelleybrew were all able to hang on with four fouls.
  
  
• Kelleybrew, a freshman from Lonoke, was playing in her first collegiate game, scoring eight points and collecting two blocked shots and three steals in 18 minutes. Also playing their first collegiate games were Sam Dean of  Mountain Home (three points in six minutes) and Whitney Betts of Waco, Texas (no points in four minutes).
  
  
• The 56 combined fouls called Saturday means someone was whistled for a foul, on average, every 42 seconds.

Basketball Bears win opener, 71-53

UCA Bears 71, Central Methodist 53

After a series of back-and-forth baskets left the score tied at 13, freshman Marcus Pillow connected with a basket at the 8:35 mark of the first half to give UCA a 15-13 advantage. The Bears never trailed again, outscoring Central Methodist 17-9 during the remainder of the half to lead 33-22 at the intermission. The Bears outscored Central Methodist 38-31 in the second half to earn the 18-point victory.

• The starting five consisting of LeMar Phillips (Sr.), Durrell Nevels (Jr.), Fernando Johnson (Sr.), Frederick Campbell (Sr.) and Nate Bowie (Jr.) (the same five who started in last week’s exhibition) combined to score 39 of UCA’s 71 points, indicating the Bears may rely on a strong bench presence this season. In all, 12 Bears saw action with 10 seeing at least 10 minutes of playing time.
  
  
• Mitch Rueter came off the bench to score 15 points (he was the game’s leading scorer), including a perfect 6-for-6 from the field (2-for-2 from 3-point range) and connecting on his only free-throw attempt. He was truly a “sixth man,” accumulating 20 minutes of playing time. By contrast, starters Phillips, Johnson and Bowie each played 24 minutes.
  
  
• Marcus Pillow, playing in his first official collegiate game, scored 11 points off the bench in 18 minutes, collecting two assists and two steals during that time. He showed no freshman jitters in his 18 minutes on the court, at times taking control of the Bears offense. It was clear Coach Chappell is depending on him to step up, and look for him to play more of a part in the team’s strategy.
  
  
• Nevels was the king of swat, collecting six blocks in his 25 minutes – twice as many as Central Methodist had as a team. He scored 12 points and shot 4-of-9 from the field.
  
  
• No UCA player fouled out, and it wasn’t even close. No one had more than two fouls, although they collectively fouled 17 times.
  
  
• After posting a .500 field goal percentage for 15 points in the season’s exhibition game, Phillips struggled against Central Methodist, only making 1-for-9 from the field (.111). He missed all four of his 3-point attempts (he was 3-for-5 from 3-point range in the exhibition).
  
  
• As a team, the Bears had an evenly-balanced game from the field, shooting .438 in the first half (14-of-32) and .440 in the second half (11-of-25). Defensively, UCA held Central Methodist to just 7-of-29 in the second half (.241).
  
  
• Central Methodist won the battle of the boards, 37 to 34. They committed nearly twice as many turnovers as UCA, however, 22 to 12.
  
  
• UCA was 6-of-14 from 3-point range (.429) and 15-of-18 from the free-throw line (.833).
  
  
• Before their next home game Nov. 22 against Mississippi
  Valley
  State , the Bears have some tough tests against St. Bonaventure, UCONN, Ole Miss and
  Fairfield .

Homecoming sends fans home early

Fifty-eight seconds into the game, Southern Arkansas had attempted an onside kick, given up 20 yards on the return, and watched Ross Brown run 28 yards on three plays to put UCA up 7-0. It was the first of many first quarter touchdowns for UCA Saturday’s homecoming game.

The momentum the Riders attempted to gain was sucked right out of the stadium, and if it is possible to have negative momentum, SAU had it.

After UCA intercepted Damian Melancon’s first pass attempt on SAU’s next drive, Brent Grimes ran four times for 34 yards, and UCA had scored 14 of it’s 55 points in less than three minutes.

The final score was 55-21, but after the first quarter, the Bears were on pace for 140 points. And those 21 points, don’t let those fool you.

SAU ran 83 plays – 83! – but only had 281 yards of offense. UCA average 7.2 yards on its 55 plays, a total of 397 yards.

Let’s get back to the first quarter. The Bears actually missed out on a scoring opportunity when Ross Brown fumbled the ball around the 2 yard line. The ball went into the endzone and was recovered by SAU for a touchback.

The UCA defense still didn’t allow SAU past midfield, and the offense was back at it. Grimes, the L.B. Jackman award winner as a freshman, started with a 14 yard run, and Nathan Brown followed with a very comfortable 48 yard pass to a wide open Fairooz. It was just Brown’s second pass attempt of the game, 10 minutes into the game.

The quick summary of the rest of the quarter:

• Grimes scored on two ran for sixteen yards. (21-0)
• SAU punter couldn’t handle bad snap – the first of many.
• Nathan Brown’s third pass was back to Fairooz for a three yard TD on a one-play drive. (28-0)
• SAU went three-and-out.
• Two plays, 38 yards Ross Brown ran 27 yards to the endzone. (35-0)
• The fans started to leave.

The rest of the game is pretty much irrelevant at this point. Let’s continue to look at the first quarter:

• Nathan Brown attempted just four passes.
• The offense rolled up 192 yards.
• Including the bad snap, the defense gave up – get this – -3 yards to SAU.
• Stadium capacity: 80% of original.

Coach Clint Conque took it easy in the second quarter, and the halftime score was 35-7. Stadium capacity: 50% of original

The second half started with SAU returning a kick/fumble for a touchdown. Apparently, the Bears didn’t much like that, and UCA’s offense was back at it in the third quarter.

This time Nathan Brown got involved again, accounting 56 of the 75 yards on the touchdown drive. Capacity: 35% of original

Tristan Jackson got his second interception of the game on SAU’s next drive. The first was off Melancon and was returned three yards. The second was against Josh SanFilippo and was returned 47 yards for the touchdown. Capacity: 30%

Olen Whitely added UCA’s last score late in the third quarter to make it 55-14. Capacity: Not much.

I think there was even a fourth quarter played, but the only thing worth mentioning there is that SAU scored, recovered an onside kick, and was stopped on fourth down.

I’d be wasting your time if I tried to analyze this game anymore. Just know that UCA was very, very fast on defense and offense. The only thing that was disappointing was that UCA wasn’t able to score the 140 they were on pace for. That would have been something for the fans to hang around for.