BOLIVAR, Missouri — The University of Arkansas at Monticello men's basketball team opened the 2015-16 regular season on Friday night with an 84-82 loss to Lincoln University in the Southwest Baptist Classic.

The Blue Tigers (1-0) led by eight points at halftime and by as much as 10 points early in the second half. UAM (0-1) erased that deficit and took its only lead of the final half with a three-pointer from junior Brandon Scott at the 10:41 mark to put the Weevils up 64-63.

That three-pointer capped an 8-2 scoring run for UAM over the previous three minutes.

Lincoln responded by getting back on top by as much as six points with 6:22 remaining. That was Lincoln's largest lead for the remainder of the game.

UAM senior Richard Benedyth cut the deficit to one point with 2:03 remaining with a three-pointer from the pass of Brandon Scott. The Weevils then had an opportunity to regain the lead with 1:23 remaining, but junior Vicktor Arnick made only one of his free throw attempts. His first free throw forced the game's fifth tie score at 79-all.

After Lincoln regained a three-point lead, Benedyth converted on an old-fashioned three-point play to force the game's sixth score with 25 seconds remaining. Lincoln's Anthony Virdure sunk a pair of free throws on the other end to finalize the scoring.

There were four lead changes and three tie scores in the first half. Lincoln led by as much as 13 with 3:55 remaining before halftime.

The Weevils finished the game at an even 50 percent from the field (27-for-54), 38 percent on three-pointers (6-for-16) and 69 percent on foul shots (22-for-32). UAM had four scorers in double-digits, led by Benedyth's 18 points.

Senior Andre Brown put up a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Jerron Washington finished with 16 points, and Scott had 13 points in 28 minutes off the bench.

The Weevils are back in action on Saturday against Southwest Baptist. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.