ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The Ouachita Tigers' men's basketball team suffered their defeat of the year after a 94-88 overtime loss to UT Permian Basin in Kingsville, Texas on Saturday. Ouachita's
Lakee Westbrook scored 26 points. Four other Tigers finished in double figures.
The Tigers opened the game with a 9-0 run thanks to three-straight buckets from beyond the arc.
Justin McCleary sank the first, followed by back-to-back treys from
Lakee Westbrook. Westbrook sank his third long-range jumper near the 15-minute mark to give Ouachita a 12-4 lead.
Early foul trouble for the Tigers kept it close in the first half. The Falcons, who made only nine of 30 field goal attempts, shot 80 percent from the free throw line, making 8-10. They closed the Tigers lead to four thanks to a 7-3 run that included five points from the charity stripe.
Mahlon Martin and
Carven Holcolmbe extended the Ouachita lead, scoring eight of the Tigers next 13 points.
Isaiah Harper was the catalyst late in the first half to give Ouachita the advantage at halftime. The freshman forward scored 11 points in 11 minutes of play, shooting a perfect 3-3 from the floor, including a thee pointer to end the first half to give Ouachita a 39-31 lead.
The Tigers opened the second half with a 21-8 run to take a 60-40 lead.
Jordan Corbitt scored eight of his 11 points in the run, including two three pointers. Ouachita shot 9-13 from the floor during the run. Down 20 with just over 13 minutes to play, UTPB began their comeback. A 22-5 run pulled the Falcons within three with 8:47 left to play. A three pointer by Daeshon Francis tied the game at 79-79 with 1:30 left to play.
The Tigers found themselves down by two with seven seconds left to play. A timely steal by McCleary put the ball back in the Tigers hands and Westbrook sank two clutch free throws to tie the game at the end of regulation.
Clutch free-throw shooting by the Falcons put the game out of reach for Ouachita in the overtime period. UTPB outscored the Tigers 11-5 in the extra period to take the win and drop the Tigers to 3-2 on the season.
