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MONTICELLO – The University of Arkansas at Monticello men's basketball team outscored Northwestern Oklahoma State by 14 in the second half and shot 71 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes to secure a71-61 victory over the Rangers at home on Saturday.
After being limited to just 33 percent and 10 made field goals in the firsthalf, the Weevils (3-2, 1-1 Great American Conference) turned the tides in the second half with 17 made shots on just 24 attempts, while holding the Rangers (2-3, 1-1 GAC) to 11 made shots on 28 attempts.
The Rangers started fast with three three-pointers in the first five minutes to hold a 13-4 lead at the 14:49 mark. UAM answered with a 12-6 run over the next five minutes to trim NWOSU's lead to just on point with just over nine minutes remaining in the first half. NWOSU kept its lead throughout the remainder of the half after outscoring UAM 9-8 in the final eight minutes to hold a 30-26 lead at the break.
UAM started the second half with a 9-2 scoring run to take a 37-32 lead on a layup by senior Brandon Wilson at the 16:46 mark. The Weevils kept the lead for the remainder of the game, extending that advantage to double-digits at the9:41 mark on a jumper from senior Jared Harrison.
UAM reached its largest lead of 15 points twice during the final nine minutes, first on a jumper from senior Dayton Mickens at the 6:32 mark to put the Weevils up 60-45 and again on a pair of free throws from Wilson at the 5:54mark to make it 64-49. The Rangers made a 7-0 run to pull UAM's lead down to seven points with 1:55 remaining, but that was as close as NWOSU would get as the Weevils made three free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Wilson led all scorers with 22 points on a 10-for-17 performance from the field. He also added seven rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals to his final totals. Junior Sharif Hudson finished at 21 points after making 9-of-11 shots, including a 3-for-5 outing on three-pointers. Harrison also reached double-digits in scoring at 11 points.
UAM finished at 50 percent from the field (27-for-54), 38 percent on treys (3-for-8) and 64 percent on foul shots (14-for-22). The Rangers shot 41 percent from the field (22-for-54), 27 percent on three-pointers (6-for-22) and 85 percent on foul shots (11-for-13).
Laakeem Henderson led the Rangers with 13 points. Brandon Wooley added 12.
The Weevils are back in action on Tuesday, November 26 against Maryville University in a non-conference contest. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. inside Steelman Field House.
