MONTICELLO, Arkansas – The Ouachita men's basketball team picked held on to take down the University of Arkansas-Monticello 61-58 for the Tigers' first GAC win of the season Saturday afternoon.
Ouachita (6-4, 1-3 GAC) came out strong and jumped out to a 7-0 lead over Arkansas-Monticello (3-7, 0-4 GAC) to start the Saturday afternoon contest. The Tigers stayed in control in the first half and pushed their lead out to double-digits before the halfway mark of the first frame. Ouachita led by as many as 12 points, which came at the 10:14 mark. UAM found a groove and began cutting into Ouachita's lead. However, the Tigers were able to keep a lead by the halftime buzzer and went into the break leading by three with the score 24-21.
The Tigers went back up by two possessions to start the second half, but the Boll Weevils came out more aggressive than the first half. Ouachita held on to a small lead until UAM tied things up at 37-37 with 12:04 remaining. From there, the two teams totaled eight ties and six lead changes over the final 12 minutes of action. UAM led by seven with just under four minutes left, but Ouachita answered with eight straight points in 59 seconds. The Weevils tied things back up with 56 seconds left on clock. A
PJ Neal layup with 32 seconds remaining and a
Devyn Franklin free throw with six seconds to go sealed the victory for the Tigers. Ouachita took down UAM 61-58 for their first conference win of the season, snapping a three-game losing streak.
Hobert Grayson once again led the way, leading all players with 29 points, 11 rebounds, and three steals, earning his eighth double-double of the season.
MJ Leslie was the other Tiger to hit double figures in scoring as he scored 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting.
Franklin and
Rollin Belton tied for second in rebounding with four each.
The Tigers will look to keep up their success next week then they travel to take on the Bisons of Harding University of Thursday, December 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Searcy, Arkansas.
