MONTICELLO — The University of Arkansas at Monticello men's basketball players are headed separate ways for the holidays following an 80-68 win over Crowley's Ridge College on Saturday at home.

The Weevils (3-6) had a rocky start, trailing by as much as eight points in the first six minutes. The Pioneers (5-7) stayed above 50 percent shooting from the field in the first nine minutes, before finally surrendering the lead to the Weevils at the 10:50 mark of the opening half on a three-pointer by senior Richard Benedyth.

The Weevils caught fire midway through the first half and ended up posting a 25-4 run over the course of seven minutes to hold a 15-point lead with six minutes remaining before halftime. UAM ended up outscoring the Pioneers 49-26 in the first half and led by as much as 23 points on a made layup from senior Evan Sims in the final seconds.

In the second half, UAM got a quick layup from senior Jerron Washington to take its largest lead of the game of 25 points. The Weevils maintained a high-teen lead until midway through the final half, when the Pioneers used a 10-0 run in four minutes to cut the UAM lead down to eight points with 9:38 remaining in regulation.

UAM answered with a 7-1 scoring to get back on top by 14 points on a layup from Sims with 6:57 remaining.

The Weevils maintained a double-digit lead throughout the remainder of the game thanks to what ended up being a 92 percent free throw shooting performance. UAM missed only two free throws on 25 attempts.

Benedyth led UAM with 16 points and five assists. Junior Vicktor Arnick posted 15 points, five steals and five rebounds. Sims and senior Jamal Peterson each had 14 points in the win. Sims and Washington tied for the team-high in rebounds with six each.

CRC's Jamarkus Lee led all scorers with 24 points.

Following the holiday break, the Weevils are back in action on January 2 on the road against Maryville.