ARKADELPHIA – A second-half surge helped the Ouachita men's basketball team pick up a much needed 75-63 win over East Central University Thursday night in Bill Vining Arena.
Ouachita (5-9, 3-6 GAC) came out hot, jumping out to a 7-0 lead over East Central (8-7, 4-5 GAC) to start the game. ECU was quick to catch back up, taking its own lead three minutes later at the 15:43 mark. From there, Ouachita retook the lead and held it for the next 10 minutes before the orange Tigers took a 25-23 lead with 4:08 left in the half. ECU held onto their lead for the remainder of the half, taking a 34-31 advantage into the break.
The purple Tigers started the second half cold, finding themselves down by eight after a few minutes of action. But an 8-0 Ouachita run made it a tie game with 15:14 remaining. Ouachita took the lead a minute later and quickly pushed it to double digits off a 13-0 that spanned a little over two minutes. ECU made it close a few times, even bringing the score within a single point with almost eight minutes left, but Ouachita held tight to their lead, going 6-for-6 from the free throw line over the final minute to seal a 75-63 victory to get back in the win column.
The defense stepped up in the second half, holding East Central to just 37 percent shooting.
Terran Williams led the Tigers with a career-high 25 points on 11-of-20 shooting. Williams also snagged seven boards, an assist, and a steal in the win.
MJ Leslie was next in scoring with 17 points and seven rebounds, followed by
Reggie Martin with 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Martin also led the Tigers in assists with four.
Marvin Williams-Dunn led the team with three steals and
Rollin Belton paced the defense with three blocks.
Ouachita will look to keep up the success as they host the Savage Storm of Southeastern Oklahoma State University on Saturday, January 20 at 3 p.m. in Bill Vining Arena.
