WEATHERFORD, Oklahoma — Senior Richard Benedyth smashed his individual career-high with 36 points in the University of Arkansas at Monticello men's basketball team's 103-92 loss to Southwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday night.

Benedyth finished the game 11-for-16 from the field, 3-for-7 on three-pointers and 11-for-13 on foul shots to account for his 36 points. It was the first time since the 2013-14 season that a UAM scorer has reached the 30-point milestone in a single game.

Seniors Jamal Peterson and Jerron Washington also reached double-digits in scoring with 17 and 16 points, respectively. Senior Andre Brown, the GAC's top rebounder coming into the game, posting 13 boards for his 10th game of the year with at least 10.

After a back-and-forth battle in the game's first eight minutes, SWOSU pulled away with a 18-2 scoring run over the span of five minutes to hold a 13-point lead. After UAM cut its deficit down seven three minutes later, the Bulldogs closed the final six minutes of the first half outscoring 23-7 to hold a 23-point lead of 52-29 at the halftime break.
 
The Bulldogs (12-8, 8-6 GAC) shot 64 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes.

In the second half, the Weevils (7-13, 5-9 GAC) made a push to cut its deficit down to eight points with five minutes remaining following a 14-2 scoring run. The Bulldogs answered with a three-pointer from Martell Collins at the 4:33 to put SWOSU back on top by double-digits. The Bulldogs led by at least 10 for the remainder of the game, using their high field goal percentage to hold off a UAM comeback.
 
SWOSU finished the game just under 60 percent overall (38-for-64), 57 percent on three-pointers (13-for-23) and 74 percent on foul shots (14-for-19). UAM shot 57 percent in the second half to improve its total percentage to 46.8 for the whole game (29-for-62).

Markeise Champion led SWOSU with 28 points. Collins added 22.
 
The Weevils are back in action on Saturday at Northwestern Oklahoma State. Tipoff is 3 p.m. in Alva.