BETHANY, Oklahoma — The University of Arkansas at Monticello men's basketball team returned to Great American Conference play on Thursday night with an 80-64 loss to Southern Nazarene on the road.

In the first half, both teams traded blows with UAM's biggest run being eight straight points, capped by three-pointers from senior Jamal Peterson on back-to-back possessions to give the Weevils (3-8, 1-4 GAC) a 17-9 lead at the 9:32 mark.

SNU (4-7, 3-2 GAC) later answered with an 8-0 run of its own and extended it to 12-3 to steal the lead back from the Weevils with 1:44 remaining before halftime. The Crimson Storm held a 33-30 lead at the break.

In the second half, SNU pulled away with two big runs. A 12-0 Crimson Storm streak early in the half put the Storm up by 10 points at the first media timeout. UAM responded with a 10-4 run to cut its deficit down to four points on a three-pointer from senior Tyler Davis with 10:43 remaining. The Storm later posted another 8-0 run.

SNU maintained a double-digit lead for the final nine minutes despite an 8-2 scoring run for the Weevils that featured six straight points from senior Richard Benedyth.

The Weevils finished the game shooting 41 percent from the field (25-for-61), 36 percent on three-pointers (8-for-22) and 60 percent on foul shots (6-for-10). Benedyth led UAM with 17 points, followed by Peterson with 14.

The Crimson Storm shot 53 percent on its home court, while taking advantage of 11 more free throw attempts than UAM. SNU was 16-for-21 at the charity stripe. SNU's C.J. Rodriguez led all scorers with 22 points.

UAM is back in action on Saturday at Oklahoma Baptist. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. in Shawnee.