CBI QUARTERFINALS
JACKSONVILLE STATE 80, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 59
The University of Central Arkansas men’s basketball team’s season ended Monday night in the College Basketball Invitational quarterfinals with a loss to Jacksonville State at the Farris Center in Conway.
Jordan Howard led UCA with 15 points. Mathieu Kamba had 10 points. The Bears (18-17) shot 41 percent from the floor and 5 of 22 from three-point range.
Sophomore Jacara Cross led the Gamecocks (23-12) to the 21-point victory with his first career double-double. The forward stepped up and scored 13 points with 13 rebounds in a season-high 18 minutes of play.
Jacksonville State shot 45 percent from the floor. Junior Marlon Hunter was 7-for-12 and was 3-for-4 from three-point range for 13 points.
The Gamecocks got out to a quick 8-0 lead, holding UCA scoreless for nearly the first five minutes of the game. It wasn’t until the 15:09 mark of the first half that the Bears got on the board, going 0-for-9 prior to a layup by DeAndre Jones.
Minus the first nine missed shots, the Bears went on to shoot 54 percent, but JSU runs of nine, four and four kept the Gamecocks’ lead to more than five points for the majority of the first half. After reaching a half-best lead of 14, Jacksonville State went to the break with a 12-point, 42-30 advantage. Senior Malcolm Drumwright scored 12 of his 17 points in the first half alone. Within the first two minutes of the second half, UCA went on a 7-2 run to shorten JSU’s lead to seven. Norbertas Giga scored the only two points during the run, while the Bears were 3-for-3 from the field and forced a turnover to momentarily gain momentum.
Following a Jacksonville State timeout to halt the run, the Gamecocks found their groove and picked up where they left off at the end of the first half. Cross led a 9-1 run over the next five minutes with four points to push the Gamecocks’ lead back to 15 points. The Bears turned the ball over twice during the stretch and was 0-for-2 from the floor.
Through the final 10 minutes of the game, JSU outscored the Bears 24-13. Hunter scored a team-best 13 points during the stretch to put UCA away and secure the Gamecocks’ 23rd victory of the season.
Jacksonville State will play at North Texas in the semifinals of the CBI on Wednesday.
WBI QUARTERFINALS
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 82,
WEBER STATE 67
Kamry Orr scored 25 points and was one of five University of Central Arkansas players to score at least 10 points in a victory over Weber State in the Women’s Basketball Invitational quarterfinals Monday night at the Farris Center in Conway.
UCA (24-9) will host Nevada at 5 p.m. Saturday in the WBI semifinals. Nevada won at Fresno State 86-74 in another quarterfinal game.
Kierra Jordan finished with 16 points and six rebounds for the Sugar Bears. Taylor Baudoin scored 14 points. Antonija Bozic chipped in with 11 points, while Taylor Sells added 10 points. UCA shot 51.9 percent from the floor and outrebounded Weber State 40-35. The Sugar Bears finished the first quarter on a 20-6 run to take a 27-14 lead entering the second quarter.
UCA extended its lead to 39-14 on Baudoin’s layup with 5:05 left in the first half. That capped the Sugar Bears’ run at 32-6. The Sugar Bears led 46-24 at halftime.
Coming out of halftime, Weber State went on a 12-4 run to cut the lead to 50-36 with 5:19 left, but Orr’s jumper pushed the UCA advantage back to 65-43 with 1:07 to play in the third quarter. UCA took a 68-44 lead into the fourth quarter on Baudoin’s jumper right before the buzzer.
Weber State (21-11) was led by Larryn Brooks, who had 16 points. Kailie Quinn scored 15 points, while Emily Drake had 14 points and Jaiamoni Welch-Coleman added 11 points.
The Wildcats shot 33.3 percent from the floor, including a 21.8 percent performance in the first half.