ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita men's basketball team protected home court Thursday night with a 69-63 win over East Central to open Great American Conference play inside Bill Vining Arena.
Junior forward Christian Parks brought the energy early on and led Ouachita scoring 16 points and five rebounds on an efficient 7-for-9 shooting performance. Parks finished three consecutive possessions to ignite a scoring run as junior guard Gavin Snyder used a crossover to split the defenders and threaded an assist to Parks underneath for an open layup. Parks jumped the passing lane to secure a steal on the defensive end and flushed a fastbreak dunk, then crashed the glass and capped off his own 6-0 surge with a putback layup at the rim.
Despite East Central clawing back in the fight with a late rally, there was just one lead change as Ouachita controlled the game for over 35 minutes. Sophomore guard Crew Flowers used a high screen at the top of the key to burst through the lane and finish a finger roll layup to give the Tigers a 34-27 lead heading into the locker room.
The second half belonged to the veterans, led by senior guard PJ Neal, whose downhill attacking style kept Ouachita afloat. Neal made an relentless effort to attack the basket and absorb contact to pace the Tigers with fastbreak layups on consecutive possessions. The Houston native made an impact on both ends of the floor and followed up securing a steal and diving onto the hardwood to deliver a dime of a bounce pass to senior guard Devon Hancock for an emphatic slam dunk.
Each time East Central came within striking distance, Hancock had an answer. The Dallas native drilled a pull-up jumper from the elbow to stretch the lead to 10 points, then after East Central trimmed back into the deficit, Snyder swung the ball to the corner where Hancock buried a three to restore more breathing room. Hancock supplied the offense with 13 points that constantly stemmed East Central rallies.
East Central cut the deficit to just one possession on four different occasions in the second half, but Ouachita never wavered or relinquished the lead. The hosting Tigers entered Thursday ranked fifth nationally in Division II in defensive field-goal percentage and held East Central to just 3-for-16 shooting from 3-point range.
After Neal bruised through the lane and hit a floater to extend the lead, a pair of juniors connected for a highlight reel dunk as Ryder McConnell sent an alley-oop pass that Parks slammed home to send the home crowd into a frenzy. Trey Smith followed with a spot-up three from the wing, which pushed the gap to 61–53. Still, Ouachita had to withstand one final surge after East Central cut the deficit to 63–61 following a pair of free throws and a transition layup with under two minutes left to play.
Ouachita answered the call in the clutch as Crew Flowers dribbled inside and kicked it out to Hancock for a spot up mid-range jumper. Neal followed up with an assist to freshman Jaxon Conley in transition for a layup that pushed the lead to six, then Neal iced the game at the free throw line and finished with 15 points. Ouachita made 28-of-63 shots from the field.
Ouachita hosts Southeastern Oklahoma State in a men's and women's basketball double-header on Saturday inside Bill Vining Arena. Tipoff for the men's game is scheduled at 3 p.m.
