BEAUMONT, Texas _  The University of Central Arkansas Bears spotted the Lamar Cardinals a 14-0 lead before bullying their way to a 38-24 victory in Southland Conference action at Provost Humphrey Stadium on Saturday.

    The Bears (5-3, 4-1), after tying the game at 17-17 just before halftime, outscored the Cardinals (3-4, 1-2) 21-7 in the second half to put away the Cardinals (3-4, 1-2) in the first meeting between the teams. The victory was UCA’s fourth consecutive, all in conference play.

    “We knew this wouldn’t be an easy task,’ UCA head coach Clint Conque said. “They have an extremely athletic team, very big on both the offensive and defensive lines. But I thought our kids just scrapped and played  hard, and I thought we played very physical, too.  We continue to find ways to win, and we had some playmakers step up and make plays tonight.’

    The Cardinals scored two quick touchdowns with ball-control drives while UCA’s offense and defense stumbled out of the gate. Quarterback Andre Bevil hit tight end Payden McVey with a 13-yards touchdown pass with 9:43 left in the first quarter. He followed that with a 9-yarder to Marcus Jackson. Justin Stout’s PAT made it 14-0 with 2:43 left in the quarter.

    UCA, which only had two offensive possessions in the first quarter, finally got on the board with a 1-yard run by junior running back Jackie Hinton in the opening minute of the second quarter to draw the Bears within 14-7. After Lamar added an 19-yard field goal by Stout, the Bears got a 28-yarder from his counterpart, Eddie Camara, capping a 12-play, 69-yard drive to close the gap to 17-10.

    The Bears tied it just before halftime when junior running back Terence Bobo took a short pass on the left side and went 51 yards down the sideline for the touchdown. Camara’s point after made it 17-17 with 1:37 remaining in the half.

    The Cardinals had 256 yards of total offense at halftime, with Bevel completing 19 of 23 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns. He missed much of the second half with injury, completing 23 of 29 for 234 yards for the gamea.

    “Another slow start on defense, very similar to the Nicholls game,’ Conque said. “We go on the road and that seems to be our M.O. The offense had to keep pace and they did a nice job with that. The second half we got the ground game going and reduced their opportunities on offense quite a bit.

    “We held Jackie out in the second half but our other backs, (Anthony) Blackmon and (Terence) Bobo, did an outstanding job in the second half. And the offensive line was very good. They deserve a lot of credit for this win. It wasn’t always clean and pretty, but the backs made it good a lot of the time. We have it ready every week but I thought coming in we’d have some advantages throwing the ball. But it turned out the run game was a key for us.’

    UCA finished with 355 yards of total offense, including 168 on the ground. Bobo had 67 yards and Blackmon added 49. Dick completed 13 of 22 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception.

    On Lamar’s first possession of the second half, the Bears stuffed a gutsy fake punt attempt by the Cardinals from their own 32 when Jerrel McKnight broke up a pass attempt. After three consecutive running plays by Terence Bobo that netted 20 yards, quarterback Nathan Dick hit receiver Jesse Grandy with a fade pass to the right side of the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown that gave the Bears their first lead of the gamee at 24-17 with 10:40 left in the third quarter.

    On the Cardinals’ next possession, Josh Jones blocked a field goal attempt and McKnight was there again and returned the loose ball 20 yards to the UCA 34. The Bears were forced to punt and the Cardinals answered in just one play as backup quarterback Jeremy Johnson kept down the left sideline for 51 yards and a touchdown to tie it at 24-24 with 6:00 in the third.

    The Bears pounded the middle with the running game to set up their next touchdown, a 35-yard play-action pass from Dick to Al Lasker with 21.6 seconds left in the third quarter, good for a 31-24 lead.

    For the second consecutive week, sophomore safety Jestin Love sealed it with a later interception. Love, last year’s SLC Co-Freshman of the Year, weaved his way for a 31-yard touchdown that set the final with 2:07 remaining. Love now has 10 career interceptions in less than two seasons.

    Love finished with 9 tackles, a forced fumble and the interception for a touchdown. Junior linebacker Seth Allison had 13 tackles, including two for loss as UCA’s defense recorded nine lost-yardage plays. 

    “Justin is a playmaker,’ said Conque. “He plays with a little bit of an edge about him. He’s very athletic, excellent ball skills, and he knows what to do with the football when he gets it. Our whole sideline is screaming ‘get down’, but I knew he was going to score and he did.’

    UCA returns home next Saturday for a Homecoming game against Southeastern Louisiana at 6 p.m. at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.