Box Score (HTML)

MONTICELLO – Junior Richard Benedyth and senior Cameron Blue accounted for more than half of the University of Arkansas at Monticello men's basketball team's total points in an 80-74 loss to first place Ouachita Baptist at home on Thursday night.

Benedyth led UAM with 22 points, while Blue added 21. For Benedyth, his 22 points ties a season-high. Blue went above 20 points for the second time this season, and the first time since scoring 23 in the season opener.

Senior Sharif Hudson also reached double-figures in the loss with 11 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.

The first half featured six lead changes and two tie scores with Ouachita (13-4, 9-3 Great American Conference) pulling away in the final five minutes to lead by as much as seven points on three different occasions.

The Tigers started the second half with a pair of three-pointers to get on top by double-digits at the 18:51 mark. Those treys sparked a 15-2 run throughout the first five minutes of the final period to put the Tigers up by 20 at the 14:19 mark.

UAM (5-11, 2-10 GAC) answered with a pair of small runs and eventually pulled the deficit back down to single digits with 6:51 remaining in regulation.

Down 11 points with 55 seconds remaining, the Weevils posted a final surge, outscoring OBU 8-3 in the final possessions to finalize the margin at six points.

The Weevils finished the game shooting 44 percent from the field (27-for-62). Ouachita answered at 49 percent overall (32-for-65) and 43 percent on three-pointers (9-for-21). OBU's Tirrell Brown led all scorers with 23 points. Micah Delph followed at 17.

The Weevils are back in action on Saturday at home against Henderson State. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.