FORT SMITH, Arkansas – The Ouachita men's basketball team dropped its season opener 72-66 to the Mules of the University of Central Missouri Friday night in the first game of the GAC/MIAA Conference Challenge.
Ouachita found itself down by six after the first two minutes of action before a 10-4 Tiger run tied the game at 10-10 at the 13:55 mark. A quick three from
Kobe Dunlap gave the Tigers their first lead of the game just 30 seconds later.
The Tigers pushed their first half lead out to six points on another three-pointer, this time from
MJ Leslie with just over nine and a half minutes to go in the period. The Tigers and Mules traded ties and small leads over the course of the next nine minutes with Central Missouri taking a two point, 31-29 lead at the break.
Ouachita opened the second half by tying the game back up with a jumper from
Tylar Haynes. The two teams again traded shots until UCM took a five-point lead halfway through the second period. The Tigers got back out in front by one with 6:51 left to play.
After going shot-for-shot with the Mules, The Tigers again found themselves up by one with 3:54 left thanks to a Haynes layup. However, Central Missouri retook the lead 30 seconds later and held onto that lead until the final buzzer, with the Tigers falling 72-66.
Two Tigers tied for the lead in scoring as
Tylar Haynes racked up 15 points on 7-9 shooting and
Emorie Knox also reached 15 on 5-10 shooting.
Reggie Martin was next with 13 points. Martin also led with three steals on the night.
Terran Williams led the Tigers in rebounds with eight and
Rollin Belton handed out four assists to lead Ouachita.
The Tigers will look to bounce back as they take on the Blue Tigers of Lincoln University tomorrow night at 6 p.m. for the final game of the GAC/MIAA Conference Challenge in Fort Smith.
