Headlining the list were transfer players Austin Haywood and Jacoby Walker. Haywood, a tight end, comes to UCA after two seasons at the University of Oklahoma. He will have two years of eligibility left. Walker, a quarterback, transferred from the University of Arkansas. He will have three seasons of eligibility left.

UCA also signed transfer Courtney Whitehead from the Air Force Academy. Whitehead will not be eligible this upcoming season because of the transfer of credits but he will have three years of playing eligibility remaining, beginning in 2013.

UCA also signed 20 high school players.

In all, the Bears signed five defensive linemen, three wide receivers, three linebackers, two offensive linemen, two cornerbacks, two safeties, two tight ends, one running back, one quarterback and two athletes.

Here is a complete list of the signees. We also included a video of interviews with Conque, defensive coordinator Matt Williamson, Walker and Haywood at the end of the story.

Signees:

• TE - Austin Haywood - 6'5'', 252 lbs. - Moore, Okla. / University of Oklahoma
• QB - Jacoby Walker - 6'2'', 216 lbs. - Houston, Texas / University of Arkansas
• WR - Courtney Whitehead - 6'2'', 195 lbs. - Athens, Texas / Air Force Academy
• OL - Justin Carpenter - 6'4'', 290 lbs. - Lonoke, Ark. / Lonoke High School
• ATH - Cody Dauksch - 6'1'', 215 lbs. - West Memphis, Ark. / West Memphis High School
• CB - Prince Ene - 5'10'', 180 lbs. - Houston, Texas / George Bush High School
• RB - Wes Foster - 5'11'', 195 lbs. - Clarksville, Ark. / Clarksville High School
• DL - Dawson Hadnot - 6'1'', 265 lbs. - Garland, Texas / Garland High School
• TE - Bo Harper - 6'4'', 235 lbs. - Monroe, La. / Ouachita Christian High School
• CB - Haywood Jeffires III - 6'0'', 198 lbs. - Pearland, Texas / Glenda Dawson High School
• WR - Jameson Johnson - 5'10'', 175 lbs. - Houston, Texas / Tomball High School
• OL - Lance Kloker - 6'5'', 275 lbs. - Owasoo, Okla. / Owasso High School
• LB - Jazz Mason - 6'1'', 210 lbs. - Memphis, Tenn. / Arlington High School
• DE - Bailey McIver - 6'4'', 235 lbs. - Sheridan, Ark. / Sheridan High School
• DT - Nathan O'Connor - 6'3'', 275 lbs. - Allen, Texas / LoveJoy High School
• S - Darius Reed - 6'2'', 185 lbs. - Houston, Texas / George Bush High School
• WR - Desmond Smith - 6'1'', 186 lbs. - Bentonville, Ark. / Bentonville High School
• OLB - Kamane Thomas - 6'1'', 195 lbs. - Missouri City, Texas / Elkins High School
• DE - Tony Truong - 6'2'', 236 lbs. - Carrollton, Texas / Creekview High School
• S - Aum' Arie Wallace - 6'1'', 185 lbs. - Little Rock, Ark. / Pulaski Academy High School
• ATH - Dillion Winfrey - 5'8'', 174 lbs. - Bryant, Ark. / Bryant High School
• DE - Tony Winslow - 6'3'', 231 lbs. - Kingwood, Texas / Kingwood High School
• LB - Ricky Wyatt - 5'11'', 233 lbs. - Monroe, La. / Neville High School

It marked the first time since 2001 that the men's basketball Bears went without a three-point field goal in a game.

Head Coach Corliss Williamson described it as a poor shooting night for the team.

"Some of them were rushed, some of them were out of rhythm," Williamson said. "We didn’t really move the ball well to get guys open for the three-point shots."

The Bears jumped out to an early lead thanks to a big start from senior guard Mark Rutledge. Rutledge scored six of the Bears' first eight points.

The Bears started the game with an 11-2 lead at the 16:39 mark of the first half. It would prove to be their largest lead of the night.

The Northwestern State Demons went on their own 15-4 run over the next three and a half minutes to take a 17-15 lead. The Demons stretched their lead to 12 points later in the first half and held a 38-30 lead at the half.

After falling behind by as many as 17 in the second half, the Bears fought back to get the game to within six points at three different points, but could not get any closer.

“We have to stop this trend somehow," Williamson said. "We have to be consistent with our effort and our execution."

Sophomore guard LaQuentin Miles led the Bears with 20 points. Rutledge, who had 12 points, was the only other Bear to score in double figures. Junior forward Jarvis Garner led the Bears in rebounds with 1o.

The Bears fall to 7-13 and 2-6 in conference play with the loss. They face the Southland Conference West Division leading Texas-Arlington Mavericks at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Farris Center.

The Mavericks are currently 8-0 in conference play and 16-5 overall. They are the only remaining unbeaten team in Southland Conference play.

Head Coach Clint Conque said he is expecting at least 20 and as many as 22 new players to sign letters of intent to play for the Bears next season. Among those signing are Arkansas Razorback transfer quarterback Jacoby Walker and Oklahoma Sooner transfer tight end Austin Haywood. Walker will have three years of eligibility remaining and Haywood will have two years. Both players are already on campus and enrolled in classes.

Conque said the recruiting class will meet both current and future needs of the football team.

A reception to announce the new class is being held at 3 p.m. today in the Hall of Fame Room at Estes Stadium. If you can't attend the event, ucasports.com is providing live streaming.

Conque, along with Walker and Haywood, will be at the reception. We will have complete coverage of the reception along with interviews with Conque and some of the players on The Fountain tomorrow.

Head Coach Corliss Williamson said he expects the Demons to be a focused team tonight. The Bears defeated the Demons 77-73 last month in Natchitoches, La., but the Bears need to be ready for a tough team tonight, Williamson said.

"We have to be focused and not just rely on the fact that we're at home and think we're going to win," Williamson said. "We have to come out and play a complete, solid game."

The Bears are 7-12 overall and 2-5 in conference play heading into tonight. While they have struggled on the road, the Bears are 5-3 at the Farris Center this season. The Demons come into tonight's game leading the East Division of the Southland Conference at 12-9 overall and 5-2 in conference play.

Bears senior guard Mark Rutledge said he expects the Demons to be "hungry" tonight.

"They're going to be coming in really looking to get that win back," Rutledge said. "We expect a dogfight."

The weekly program features two panelists debating the topics and a moderator who poses the questions and judges the answers. The moderator picks a winner at the end of the show who gets "Face Time" to share his thoughts and feelings on any topic he wants.

This week's panel included me, Zach Hayes from The Fountain, and A.J. Harper from Channel 6 Sports. Michael Pair, also from Channel 6 Sports, was the moderator. Pair didn't chose a winner from this week's panel.

Scoreboard airs several times daily on Channel 6. You can find exact times here.

We've included a video of the debate below.

The Grizzlies picked up their eighth straight victory while handing the Bears their first loss since September. The hot streak for the Bears was frozen Saturday against a Montana team that's been to the FCS playoffs 21 times and has two national championships.

"This is a great Montana program with a great tradition," Bears head coach Clint Conque told ucasports after the game. "I just wish we could have come out and played a little bit better, a little bit more focused. We were ready to play but might have been a little bit too amped up to play."

The game started slipping for the Bears in the first quarter with three turnovers (two fumbles and an interception) that led to 17 Grizzly points. Jesse Grandy was ruled to have touched Montana's first punt of the game, after a good defensive stand by the Bears, that led to a Montana recovery and field goal.

The first half ended with the Grizzlies leading 24-0 and having already racked up 277 yards of offense. The Bears managed just 73 yards. The second half was much of the same for Montana as they increased their lead to 38-0 before Nathan Dick hit Grandy for a 44-yard score to make it 38-7.

Dick finished his final game as a Bear completing 26 of 40 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns. The Bears only managed 25 yards rushing for 290 yards of total offense. Montana had 415 yards of total offense. Montana ran 87 offensive plays while the Bears ran 54 playes.

Frank Newsome led the UCA defense with a career-high 16 tackles while Jestin Love and Jermayne Lett had 11 each and Seth Allison and Jessie Sims each turned in 10. Matt Hornbuckle had 2.5 tackles for loss and Jerrel McKnight caught his third and fourth interceptions of the year.

“I was extremely proud of the way our football team competed," Conque said. “I thought we were well prepared, our coaches had our young men ready to go. Quite frankly, I think that may have worked against us a little bit in the first half. You just can’t spot a really good football team three turnovers and 17 points. We kind of dug ourselves a hole and then we missed a few things."

UCA is coming off its first ever FCS playoff appearance and win last week against Tennessee Tech. The team has reeled off eight consecutive wins and built momentum along the way.

 "Certainly it was a nice win for us at Tennessee Tech last Saturday," UCA head coach Clint Conque told ucasports. "(Coach) Watson Brown had a very fine football team. I thought our team prepared very well during the week, handled the travel well and then came out and played very, very sharp. It was probably the most efficient game of the season."

The Grizzlies earned a first round bye in the playoffs. They've put together seven straight wins, including a victory over FCS # 1 Montana State on the road, to close their season. The Grizzlies average more than 200 yards a game on the ground and racked up 309 yards on 47 rushes against Montana State.

 "We have great respect for their team this year and how they’ve played," Conque said. "They beat the No. 1 team in the country in Montana State on the road two weeks ago. We know we’ll have to play our best game to date to have an opportunity to be competitive and put ourselves in a position to win, on the road in a really hostile environment."

The Bears are 4-3 away from Conway this year but have won their last four road games. They'll face conditions they aren't accustomed to today, however, with the game time temperature below freezing. There also will be more than 25,000 eager fans supporting the Grizzlies, far more than the 6,000 they heard last week in Tennessee.

The winner of today's game will face the winner of the Wofford/Northern Iowa game next weekend.

Today's game will be aired on ESPN3.com and on ESPN Game Day pay-per-view.

This week's panel featured me, Zach Hayes from The Fountain, and Michael Pair from Channel 6 Sports. A.J. Harper, also from Channel 6 Sports, hosted and scored the panel. Each guest was scored on his argument for or against a topic. The winner usually gets "Face Time" at the end of the show to share his thoughts or feelings on any subject of his choice but this week's judge decided to wait until after the University of Montana game to pick the winner.

The debate included the panelists' thoughts on the Bears first ever FCS playoff appearance and victory over Tennessee Tech this past weekend, their chance on the road this weekend against the University of Montana Grizzlies and a debate on whether Bears quarterback Nathan Dick is having the best season for any UCA quarterback, including Nathan Brown's outstanding 2008 season.

Scoreboard airs several times daily on Channel 6. You can find exact times here.

We've included a video of the debate below.

The Bears shot 54 percent from the field and committed only six turnovers. They hit just 26 of 46 free throws during regulation but improved to 71 percent in the overtime periods, including a 4-for-5 effort from LaQuentin Miles to seal the victory. Miles finished the fame with a double-double, notching 22 points and 10 rebounds.

The Bears were also boosted by the return of sophomore forward Jordan Harks. The Lombard, Ill., native, seeing his first action of the season, scored 16 points and hauled in six rebounds. He also supplied lots of energy to the Bears team.

“It was great to have Harks back out there,” Bears head coach Corliss Williamson said. “He brings great energy and really inspires the other guys on the floor.”

A 10-2 run capped by a lay up from Harks with 7:57 to play in regulation gave the Bears their largest lead of the evening at 66-53. After a Panther timeout, Eastern Illinois quickly cut the lead to one at 71-70 after going on a 17-4 run of their own.

UCA extended the lead to 76-72 after Miles hit one of two free throws. Then, EIU’s Jeremy Granger, playing with four fouls, took over the game. Granger hit a jumper to cut the lead to two and then hit a game-tying three-pointer with just seven seconds remaining on the clock. UCA had one final shot that could win the game but a Miles’ jumper at the buzzer came up a bit short and the two teams headed to overtime.

In the first overtime period, UCA held an 88-84 advantage with just 13 seconds left but Granger again got to the basket and cut the lead to two. After UCA converted one of two at the line, EIU guard Joey Miller banked a three-pointer off the backboard as the buzzer sounded to force the second overtime.

UCA left nothing to chance in the final overtime period as the their full-court pressure defense picked up, forcing three Panther turnovers which led to five Bear points. UCA never trailed in the second overtime and converted seven of eight free throw attempts.

The  Bears return to the floor Wednesday when they travel to Martin, Tenn., to take on the University of Tennessee-Martin. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The Bears made the 20-team bracket and will travel to Cookeville, Tenn., Saturday to face the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles in the first round. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. in Tucker Stadium. The game will be shown live on ESPN3.

Tennessee Tech (7-3) is co-champion of the Ohio Valley Conference. The Bears finished the season by winning seven consecutive games and placing second in the Southland Conference behind Sam Houston State.

"It was awesome news for our football team, for our program and for our university," UCA head coach Clint Conque told ucasports.com. “It’s very special to be the first program in our athletic department to go to the NCAA championships."

Conque took the Bears to the NCAA Division II playoffs twice, first in 2001 and again in 2005, and they made it as far as the quarterfinals. They have not been eligible for postseason play until last year after transitioning to Division I in 2006. Their 6-1 SLC record in 2008 won them the conference and would have ensured a playoff berth had they been eligible.

Tennessee Tech ended their season with 49-7 rout last Saturday of Austin Peay. That win and other head-to-head victories earned them an automatic bid to the playoffs. It is the first FCS playoff berth for the Golden Eagles.

The winner will face the Montana Grizzlies in the second round. The second-round games will be played on Saturday, Dec. 3, with the quarterfinals set for Dec. 9-10 and semifinals on Dec. 16-17. The national championship game will be played Saturday, Jan. 7, at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, with the Southland Conference serving as host for the second year.