Box Score (HTML)

MONTICELLO – Senior Cameron Blue had 13 points, seven rebounds, seven blocked shots and three steals to lead the University of Arkansas at Monticello men's basketball team to a 71-68 victory over Harding on Saturday at home.

Blue finished one blocked shot away from tying UAM's single-game individual record. He had seven of UAM's nine total blocked shots in the win, which finished just two away from tying the team record for a single game.

For the Weevils (3-3, 1-3 Great American Conference), Saturday's win over Harding snapped a three-game GAC losing streak and gave the team its first league victory of the season.

Harding (3-5, 1-2 GAC) jumped out on top early and led by as much as 12 points at the 11:18 mark of the opening period. However, the Bisons were stuck on 23 points for the next seven minutes, while UAM posted a 20-0 run during that time to hold an eight-point lead with 4:13 remaining before halftime. UAM went on to lead by as much as nine points in the opening period and went into the locker room up 39-31.

In the second half, UAM led by as much as six points on two different occasions and trailed only once. The Bisons managed to force the game's fourth and final tie score at 52-all with 9:50 remaining, and later took a one-point lead with 1:47 remaining following a 7-0 Harding run. UAM junior Jamal Peterson answered with a three-pointer on the other end, and it was Peterson who put UAM on top by its final margin by sinking a pair of free throws with 24 seconds on the clock.

Harding's Jacob Gibson, who led all scorers in the game with 21 points and four three-pointers, missed a long three-point attempt with eight seconds remaining.

Peterson and junior Richard Benedyth led UAM in scoring with 16 points each. Blue followed with 13, and senior Sharif Hudson also reached double-figures with 11 points.

In addition to Gibson's 21 points for Harding, Johnathan McGee and Andraz Kavas also reached double-figures in scoring with 19 and 12 points respectively. Kavas led all players with 12 rebounds.

The Weevils finished the game shooting 48 percent from the field (28-for-59), 26 percent on three-pointers (5-for-19) and 91 percent on foul shots (10-for-11). Harding finished at 45 percent from the field (24-for-53), 39 percent on three-pointers (10-for-26) and 63 percent on foul shots (10-for-16).

UAM is back in action next Saturday with the team's second road trip to Arkadelphia of the season, this time to face off against Ouachita Baptist. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.