ARKADELPHIA – A second half surge helped push the Ouachita men's basketball team past Arkansas-Monticello 80-74 for the Tigers' first Great American Conference win of the season on Saturday afternoon at Bill Vining Arena.
Ouachita (3-6, 1-3 GAC) started the game hot. After Arkansas-Monticello (3-6, 1-3 GAC) made the first basket, the Tigers answered back with a 15-0 run to go up by 13 at the 14-minute mark. The Boll Weevils weren't done though, as they chipped away at the Tigers' lead until the game was tied at 20 with 6:28 left to go in the half. UAM took the lead and pushed it up to nine points with four minutes left before the break. A buzzer-beating jumper from
Gavin Snyder sent the Tigers into halftime trailing by three, 34-31.
The Tigers tied it up at 36 two and a half minutes into the second half. After trading a few shots, Ouachita tied the game and retook the lead for the last time on two
Tylar Haynes free throws with 16:07 left to go. The Tigers did not trail for the remainder of the game, pushing their lead out to double digits three times over the final 15 minutes. Ouachita hit 9-of-10 free throws in the final minute and a half to seal the 80-74 victory over Arkansas-Monticello.
As a team, Ouachita went 25-for-30 at the charity stripe and shot 48 percent from the field.
Leading the Tigers was
Emorie Knox with a career-high 23 points on 7-11 shooting and a perfect 6-6 from the free-throw line. Knox led the team with five assists and tallied four boards, a block, and a steal in the win.
Reggie Martin was next with a season-high 20 points. Martin shot 6-9 from the field and went 7-8 on free throws.
Tylar Haynes followed with 16 points to round out the Tigers in double figures. Haynes also led the Tigers with seven rebounds.
This win marked the fourth straight win over the Boll Weevils for the Tigers and gave Ouachita it's first GAC win of the season in the Tigers' final game before the new year.
It will be 2024 before the Tigers play again as they host the Bison of Oklahoma Baptist on Thursday, January 4. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Bill Vining Arena.
