Martin Interview 
Nutt Interview 

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Senior guard Mahlon Martin (Little Rock, Ark.) scored a career high 29-points on Thursday evening as Ouachita defeated Arkansas Tech 86-81 to open up Great American Conference play.

"They just told me to attack early," Martin said. "Coach has been telling me to get started early, not to wait on the game and that's what I did. I shot the first one of the night and once I see a couple of them go in my confidence goes up."

The Tigers did just that as they opened the game on an 11-2 run in the opening three minutes of game time. The quick spurt forced Arkansas Tech to call an early timeout as three different Tigers connected on three point opportunities.

"We really got off to a great start," Ouachita Baptist head coach Dennis Nutt said. "Mahlon [Martin] really shot well coming out of the gates and that allowed us to jump on them pretty quickly."

At the 12:56 mark in the first half Martin took a pass from sophomore forward Matt Stanley (Cabot, Ark.) and knocked down his third consecutive three-pointer and his fourth overall in the first half. The basket gave the Tigers a commanding 27-10 lead and created an electrifying atmosphere inside Bill Vining Arena.

However, the lead did not last long as the Wonder Boys offense began to click and rained down a barrage of three pointers down on the Tigers defense. As the Wonder Boys closed the half on a 21-10 run.

At the 15:54 mark of the second half Will Adler rattled in another Wonder Boys three pointer and gave Arkansas Tech their first lead of the night at 46-44. For much of the second half the two teams remained close, until Ouachita began to pull away a bit down the stretch.

With 2:15 remaining in the contest, the Tigers led 73-66. A few seconds later Arkansas Tech's Jacob Patterson appeared to have an easy layup but Martin swatted the ball away which led to a fastbreak bucket for Trey Harris (Little Rock, Ark.) at the other end of the court.

Despite a late run by Arkansas Tech late in the game, the Tigers were able to knockdown key free throws along the away to take the first conference win of the year.
Ouachita (4-1, 1-0 GAC) knockdown a season high 14-three pointers, with Martin going 7-8 from beyond the arch. The Tigers as a whole shot 51.9 percent from three-point range and held Arkansas Tech (2-3, 0-1 GAC) to just 39.5 percent from beyond the arch.

"He [Mahlon] has been fantastic ever since the Dallas Baptist game," Nutt responded. "We all regrouped and he kind of took over a different role. He is leading not just scoring but also the tempo of the game and I could not be more proud."

Joining Martin in double-figures were Harris and Kendarious Smith (Conway, Ark.). Harris added 18 points, while Smith contributed 12 points. Senior forward Wesley Franklin (Frisco, Texas) lead the team in rebounds with 11.

R.J. Glasper led the scoring for the Wonder Boys on Thursday evening, scoring 25 in the losing effort. Will Adler added 21 points and Alex Brown contributed 14 points to round out the double-digit scorers for Arkansas Tech.

Ouachita will take a day off before traveling to Arkansas-Monticello on Saturday afternoon. The game is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. tip, with game information available on obutigers.com. Be sure to follow the official social media accounts of Ouachita athletics and the Ouachita men's basketball program.