ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The Ouachita Tiger men's basketball team scored 52 points in the second half to take an 83-76 victory over Central Baptist on Friday night at Bill Vinning Arena.

Trey Harris (Little Rock, Ark.) lead a quartet of Tigers in double-figure scoring efforts. The junior guard scored a career high 23 points in the victory and finished the night 8-10 from the field. Ouachita (1-0) forwards Matt Stanley (Cabot, Ark.) and Morris Talbert (North Little Rock, Ark.) each tallied 18 points in the winning effort. Senior guard Mahlon Martin (Little Rock, Ark.) added a dozen points to the mix as well.

In the first half of play, the Tigers got out to a slow start, only shooting 40 percent from the field the whole half. In the first four minutes of action both the Tigers and the Mustangs tried to get in a rhythm and figure out the opponents offensive sets.

At the 13:13 mark of the first half, Percell Washington laid the ball in to give Central Baptist (0-1) a 15-8 lead over the Tigers. Moments later the lead ballooned to as many as nine points before Ouachita began to counter the run. With 5:38 remaining in the half Talbert knocked down a three pointer to pull the Tigers with a trio of points.

Ouachita would not be close the rest of the half as Central Baptist found themselves with a 16-point lead a few moments later. The Tigers went into the locker room with an 11-point deficit at halftime.

It was a different story for the Tigers in the second half as they came out swinging on the offensive side of the ball. Slowly but surely the Tigers chipped away at the Mustangs lead, with 9:16 remaining in the half, Harris trained a three from the right corner to give the Tigers one of their first leads of the night at 61-60.

After a Stanley layup at the 7:16 mark of the half gave the Tigers a 67-61 lead, Ouachita poured on the pressure and began a short run of their own. A few more minutes went by and the Tigers lead had grown to eight points with just under three minutes to play in regulation. Ouachita guards Harris and Martin knocked down free throws at the end of the game to seal a game one victory for the 2018 season.

The Tigers will have six days off before travelling down to Dallas Baptist University next Saturday now. For more information on the Ouachita basketball team, stay tuned to the Ouachita athletic social media accounts.