ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita men's basketball team feasted before Thanksgiving and set a Great American Conference single-game scoring record with a 137-65 win over Ecclesia College on Tuesday night at Bill Vining Arena.
Ouachita came out of the gate hot, scoring the first four points of the game in under 35 seconds. After Ecclesia made the next shot, the Tigers never looked back. Ouachita's lead hit double digits less than five minutes into the contest. Less than two minutes later, the Tigers went up by 20 points. Another four minutes went by, and Ouachita led by 30 with the score of 41-11 with 9:26 left in the first half. With a little more than a minute remaining in the half, the Tigers' lead hit the 40-point mark with the score 68-28. Ouachita went to the halftime break leading 71-28.
Less than three minutes into the second half, Ouachita had pushed its lead to 50 points. Over the next 10 minutes, the lead stayed between the 51- and 59-point mark, but with 7:48 left on the clock, the Tigers went up by 60. Just over two minutes later, the Ouachita lead had hit 70 points. The Tigers led by as many as 74 points before the final buzzer sounded with Ouachita posting a 72-point, 137-65 win over the Royals.
The 137 points scored are a GAC single game scoring record and a Ouachita NCAA-era record. The previous GAC record was 129 points, which happened twice in the 2019-2020 season.
The Tigers made 54 field goals on 72 percent shooting in the win and shot nearly 58 percent from three-point range.
Every member of the Ouachita roster found the basket in the game, with seven Tigers reaching double-digit scoring.
Hobert Grayson again led the way with 21 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Grayson also led the Tigers with four steals.
Shaun Williams was next in scoring with 20, followed by
Reggie Martin with 19,
Gavin Snyder with 18,
Devyn Franklin with 16,
MJ Leslie with 12, and
Rollin Belton with 10 to round out the Tigers in double figures.
Snyder led the team in rebounds with 12 for his first double-double of the season. Williams dished out seven assists for the team lead. In total, Ouachita handed out 34 assists to just five turnovers.
The Tigers will be back in action this weekend when they host the Tigers of Champion Chirstian College on Saturday, November 30 at 3 p.m. at Bill Vining Arena.
