Bears Rebound Against Bulldogs
Nevels grabs 20 rebounds

box score

LEXINGTON, Ky -The University of Central Arkansas Bears rebounded, literally, Wednesday night and grabbed a 69-59 victory over Alabama A&M in the consolation game of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic at Rupp Arena.

The Bears (1-1) came back from Tuesday's loss to No. 20 Kentucky with a vengeance, dominating the boards against the Bulldogs. UCA held a whopping 54-30 rebounding advantage, with senior Durrell Nevels turning in the best performance in 30 years.

Nevels grabbed 20 rebounds, the first UCA player to do that since Wally Love in 1977. He also tied for team-high scoring honors with 13 points and added 4 blocked shots.

"It's nice to see a senior, one of your experienced guys, in a way put you on his back,' said UCA Coach Rand Chappell. "We said we didn't want to let them have any putbacks and Durrell really controlled that part of the game.

The other standout was junior transfer guard York Sims who had 13 points, hitting 5 of 8 from the field overall and knocking down 2 of 3 from three-point range. Eleven of his points came in the decisive second half when the Bears turned a 27-26 halftime deficit into a lead of as much as 13 points down the stretch.

"I thought York Sims made three or four plays down the stretch there with 10 minutes to go or so that gave us a nice lift,' said Chappell. "We're expecting him to have a big year, too.'

The Bears got two early three-pointers in the first four minutes from sophomore guard Marcus Pillow, who had struggled with his shooting touch against Kentucky. His second three gave the Bears an 8-4 lead that they extended to 11-4 on a Brian Marks rebound basket and a free throw by Landrell Brewer. The Bulldogs (0-2) got a jumper from Cornelius Hester at the 19:10 mark and did not score again until the 9:30 mark.

UCA led the entire half, by as much as 11 points on Imad Qahwash's three-pointer at 8:20, but went to the locker room down 27-26 as A&M's LaNorris Smith nailed a 28-foot three-pointer at the buzzer.

UCA, which shot only 29.6 percent in the first half, improved to 45.5 percent in the second. The two constants the entire night were free-throw shooting (17 of 22 for 77.3 percent) and rebounding as the Bears pulled down 29 boards in the second half. UCA had six players with at least four rebounds each.

"We just totally dominated the glass,' said Chappell, "and that was the difference in the game. We held them to eight offensive rebounds and we got 37 on the defensive end. So of the 45 that came off their boards, we got 37, so that's pretty good.'

Senior guard Nate Bowie added 12 points and 4 assists for the Bears, while Marks had 8 points and 7 rebounds. Landrell Brewer added 6 points and 8 rebounds off the bench. Jabari Deshields led A&M with 20 points, while Evan Hilton added 11. Center Mickell Gladness, the leading shot blocker in the nation a year ago, blocked 9 on Wednesday.

The Bears have their home opener on Monday against Ecclesia College. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Farris Center.

"I think this was a trip the guys will remember for a long time,' said Chappell of their Rupp Arena experience. "It was a good experience and we can build on it. We come home Monday night and we have four of the next five games at home.

"These guys are going to be fun to watch so I hope people will come out and see us.'