Box Score ADA, Okla. – The Ouachita Tigers fell to 5-2 in Great American Conference play on Saturday, losing to the East Central University Tigers 88-82. The Tigers are now tied for second in the GAC standings.
The first four minutes of the game featured six lead changes before a 6-0 run gave East Central (11-3, 5-2 GAC) a 17-11 lead with 12:55 to play in the first half. ECU maintained its lead until Ouachita tied the game at 36 on a
Justin McCleary three-pointer with 1:47 remaining in the half. ECU took the lead back, again, however, and went into halftime with the 39-36 lead.
Ouachita finished the first half netting 7-8 three-point attempts, and McCleary was a perfect 4-4 from deep. McCleary led the Tigers with 12 first-half points, followed by
Colt Fason with eight.
A 9-0 run early in the second half for Ouachita put the Tigers on top, 47-43 with 16:52 to play. The Tigers only led for 1:40, however, before ECU took control again, and East Central eventually claimed a lead of 10.
East Central maintained a comfortable lead until McCleary sparked a 7-0 run for Ouachita that pulled the Tigers within two. ECU responded with a 5-0 run, however, and held the lead for the final minute.
ECU's Henry Pwono scored 19 second-half points, giving him a game-high 31 points for the game. Braxton Reeves added 24 points in the victory for East Central.
Ouachita's
Tirrell Brown scored a team-high 14 points in the second half, on 6-8 shooting from the field. He also added five rebounds.
For the game, Brown and McCleary finished with 18 points each, while Brown grabbed a total of seven boards. Fason followed with 13 points and seven rebounds and
David Berete recorded 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Ouachita converted on 50.8 percent of shots from the floor in the game but allowed East Central to net 57.1 percent of its shots and 58.8 percent of its three-point attempts. East Central added 30 points from the free-throw line, while Ouachita only knocked down nine free-throws for the game.
The Tigers (9-3, 5-2 GAC) will host Southern Nazarene University on Thursday, Jan. 15. The game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
