Senior night struggles
Saturday, March 1 @ 9:58 PM
Senior night started out on the right track, getting out to a five-point lead and looking like they were actually having fun. But UCA couldn't overcome a bad shooting Saturday night the rest of the way against Nicholls State and lost 60-51 at the Farris Center.The Bears fought back from a 13 point first-half deficit to cut it to 30-22 at the half.
UCA followed that up with an energetic start to the second half, holding the Colonels scoreless until the 15:20 mark and cutting the lead to one, 30-29.
It may have been a little early to call it a dagger, but Nicholls forward Dominic Friend hit one of his three 3-pointers to push the lead up to four. The Bears would never get that close again.
The hardest part about watching the game was watching senior Durrell Nevels struggle from the field. He just couldn't get anything to fall. He was 1-for-8 in the first half and just 2-for-6 in the second. And these weren't the shots you'd complain about him taking. They were the same shots he's made throughout this season/his career at UCA.
The other senior on the squad, Nate Bowie, scored 39 points in the first meeting with Nicholls this season, a 98-96 double overtime win. Saturday Bowie was able to get 15, including shooting 40% from 3-point range.
Bowie and the other guards - York Sims doesn't exactly play like a forward - shot the ball relatively well, 10 points from a sick (literally, not some kind of new age slang) Sims and 19 from Marcus Pillow.
Besides the field goal percentage difference, the other statistical difference that sticks out may have been the 14 bench points that the Colonels got from Friend. UCA's bench scored exactly zero points, took just three shots and missed all four free throw attempts.
It's been a tough season for the Bears (14-15, 4-11), and Saturday night was certainly no exception.