Threes won’t fall, so Bears do

LITTLE ROCK — Entering Thursday night, the Central Arkansas men’s basketball team led the Southland Conference in threepoint percentage.

But Sam Houston State outshot the Bears, hitting 7 of 17 from three-point range to hand UCA a 63-52 loss at the Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville, Texas.

The Bears (5-10), who came into the game making 36.9 percent of their three-pointers but went 3 of 15, dropped to 0-5 in the Southland for the second time in three seasons under Coach Corliss Williamson. They are one of two winless teams in the conference along with Lamar, which is also 0-5.

After trailing by as many as 14 points in the second half, the Bears put together a late run and cut the margin to 58-52 on a steal at midcourt and dunk by LaQuentin Miles with 1:26 remaining. But Paul Baxter made four consecutive free throws for a 62-52 lead with 30.6 seconds left.

The Bearkats were just 5 of 8 from the line in the final minute, but the Bears went scoreless over the final 1:25 after closing within six. Baxter was 9 of 9 at the line and finished with 19 points, after averaging just 6 points per game entering Thursday.

“It was the same old song, like a broken record, getting down early in the game,” Williamson said. “That’s definitely something we have to take a look at. We have to find a way to start the game off better.

“But I thought Sam Houston really did a good job, particularly defensively. I thought Coach [Jason] Hooten really had his team ready to play. They are tough defensively, they are physical. And our guys just couldn’t match that.”

The Bearkats were 5 of 10 from three-point range in the first half to take a 31-24 halftime lead.

Miles led the Bears with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Jarvis Garner, the fifth-leading scorer in the Southland, finished with just six points and was held to less than 10 for the second time in three games. Robert Crawford, the top three-point shooter in the league, went 1 for 5 and finished with 8 points.

The Bears are at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday.