MONTICELLO — The University of Arkansas at Monticello men's basketball led for nearly 30 minutes, but Harding rallied with an 8-0 run with three minutes remaining that sparked an 82-78 victory over the Weevils on Thursday night inside Steelman Field House.

The Weevils (7-15, 5-11 GAC) had an early 6-0 run snapped by Harding three-pointers as the teams were tied at six two minutes into the contest.  Harding followed UAM's run with an 8-2 run of its own, and led 11-8 at the first media timeout.
 
The Bisons (13-8, 12-4 GAC) were content shooting from range as the visitors from Searcy did not attempt a two-point basket for the first three minutes of the contest, but eventually found their way inside.  A 15-4 UAM run, however, gave the Weevils a 23-15 lead with 10:30 remaining in the opening half. 
 
The shooting cooled for both teams and the defenses tightened up with UAM maintaining a lead with just under eight minutes remaining at 5-20. A Tyler Davis three-pointer off of an offensive rebound briefly gave the Weevils an eight-point advantage but Harding closed it back to six just before half. The Weevils led 39-33 at the break.

The second half began with Jamal Peterson converting a 28-foot three-pointer to give UAM what was then its largest lead of the game at nine, 42-33.  Harding came out with a full-court press and took advantage with a 12-0 scoring run to take the lead at 45-42 on a three-pointer by Blake McNair at the 16:29 mark.
 
UAM regained the lead with 13:40 remaining on a Tyler Davis three-pointer.  A driving basket and foul for the Weevils with 11:43 to go gave UAM a seven-point lead 58-51.  Richard Benedyth hit a three-pointer to give UAM its first double-digit lead of the game at 63-53 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the contest.  That basket completed a 14-4 UAM run.
 
Harding responded with an 8-2 run fueled by perimeter shooting, closing to within one with just over seven minutes left. With UAM leading by four on a layup from Jamal Peterson at the 3:18 mark, the Bisons posted their 8-0 run for the final lead change of the game. UAM closed the gap to two points on a layup from Andre Brown with 31 seconds on the clock, but HU's Will Francis made a pair of free throws to finalize the scoring.  
 
UAM was led by Brown who recorded his league-leading ninth double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds in 37 minutes of play.  He was one of five Weevils in double figures, joined by Jamal Peterson who had 13, Tyler Davis with 12, and Richard Benedyth and Vicktor Arnick with 10 each.

Harding's Blake McNair led all scorers with 24 points.  Harding shot 70 percent from the floor in the second half and 55 percent for the game.

UAM now heads on the road for three straight.  The next game is Saturday at Henderson State, tipping off at 3 p.m. in Arkadelphia.