13 Dec 2023 Bears make it two in a row with 73-70 win
CHARLESTON, Ill. — Make that two in a row for the University of Central Arkansas Bears.
The Bears tied their season-high last Sunday with 13 three-pointers and survived a three-point attempt by the Eastern Illinois Panthers in the final seconds to secure a 73-70 victory at Groniger Arena.
UCA, coming off a 75-71 victory over Little Rock on Thursday, also won it at the free-throw line, going 12 for 12, including 6 for 6 from sophomore guard Johannes Kirsipuu. His final two free throws came with 4.6 seconds left and gave the Bears their final margin.
The Bears (3-9) led by as much as 11 points in the first half but allowed the Panthers (5-6) to get back into it by halftime. The Bears then got a huge push from graduate Daniel Sofield early in the second half and continued to make timely free throws. Sofield made four three-pointers in the second half before leaving with an injury.
Sofield and freshman Tucker Anderson combined to go 10 of 17 from three-point range, with Anderson hitting a career-high 6 of 10. He added five rebounds and five assists. Sofield had 14 points, going 4 of 7 from beyond the arc.
“Daniel started slow but I told the staff, right when I think he’s not shooting the ball very well, he’ll pop a couple, and he did,” said UCA head coach Anthony Boone. “He popped a few for us. And Tucker had a great game on both ends of the floor, and helped Glory with some rebounding, too.
“It was just a great team effort, Even guys who didn’t get to play, just their energy and their enthusiasm and their encouragement from the sideline… All of that contributed to the success we had today. This was a lot of fun.”
Sophomore center Glory Etim tipped in a shot with 50 seconds left, one of his career-high 16 rebounds to go along with eight points and three blocked shots. Both teams had fouls to give in the final 30 seconds, and UCA made the most of theirs. Kirsipuu made two at the line with 4.6 left and EIU missed with 3.6 seconds left. The rebound went out of bounds off UCA but the Panthers missed their final attempt at the buzzer.
“Glory did an incredible job on the glass,” said Boone. “He was a man. He’s been a man every day, but today he was Superman on the glass. He is playing incredibly well for us. Those blocked shots, a lot of them came at the back end of our press.
“We made the determination that we needed to press these guys quite a bit and that got them sped up. They don’t like to play all that fast. And Glory did a great of protecting the rim. He had a great overall game, but certainly on the defensive end and on the glass.”
The foul situation definitely worked in UCA’s favor, according to Boone.
“It worked out great for us both ways, where they had to foul us a lot,” he said. “And our guys did a great job of taking care of the ball there the last few seconds. And then we had a chance to foul them, had a foul to give with a few seconds to go so they had to take it out again. It definitely worked out in our favor.”
The Bears, who had a combined 17 turnovers in their two most recent games, overcame 16 on Sunday. The Bears are also 32 of 34 at the free-throw line in the past two victories.
UCA takes a nine-day break for final exams before returning to the Farris Center on Dec. 20 against Western Illinois.
