ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita men's basketball team got back in the win column with a highlight-filled 83-58 win over the Savage Storm of Southeastern Oklahoma State on Thursday night in Bill Vining Arena.
Thursday night's contest did not start out well for either team as Ouachita (13-6, 8-5 GAC) and Southeastern Oklahoma State (13-6, 4-9 GAC) combined for just two field goals over the first four minutes of action. However, after the early scoring drought, it was all Tigers as Ouachita took the lead at the 15:43 mark and never looked back. Before the midway point of the first half, the Tigers' lead had hit double-digits.
Ouachita continued pushing their lead while stifling the Savage Storm of the other end of the court. The Tigers allowed Southeastern to make only seven field goals on 33 attempts in the first half for just 18 points. The Tigers' lead grew to 21 points by the one-minute mark and Ouachita went into the break leading 39-18.
The Tigers came out in the second half just as hot as they left in the first and pushed their lead out to 29 points in less than five minutes of play. Ouachita kept Southeastern at least 20 points behind for the entire second half. The Tiger lead hit the 30-point mark with 9:48 to go with the score 68-38. Ouachita led by as many as 35 points with just over eight minutes left in the second half and cruised over those final eight minutes to their commanding 25-point 83-58 win over the Storm, getting revenge for the loss to Southeastern earlier season and putting the Tigers back in the win column.
Ouachita held Southeastern to just 32.3 percent shooting, the lowest of any opponent this season. The 58 points allowed ties the lowest mark of the season as well.
Leading all scorers was
Shaun Williams with a game-high 29 points on 9-for-13 shooting and a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line. The St. Louis, Missouri native also led the team in steals with three and tied for the team lead in assists with five.
Hobert Grayson was second on the team in scoring with 17 points, but led the game in rebounding with 17 boards, his second most in a game this season.
Devyn Franklin was next in scoring with nine points and second in rebounds with seven.
Gavin Snyder tied with Williams for the team lead in assists with five.
Rollin Belton picked up two blocks to lead all defenders.
Ouachita still sits in a three-way tie for third place in the Great American Conference standings with nine games left in the regular season. The Tigers are one game out of second place.
The Tigers will look to keep up the success and get some revenge when they take on East Central University on Saturday, February 1 at 3 p.m. in Bill Vining Arena.
