ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The University of Arkansas at Monticello men's basketball team won a battle at Ouachita Baptist University Saturday night in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. After trailing at halftime, UAM outscored the Tigers, 37-31 in the second half to win, 76-73.
 
Right from the start, the Tigers looked to give UAM a hard-fought game. The Tigers put together an early lead going up four in the first two minutes. The Weevils battled back to tie later when KJ Lesure drilled a triple.
 
Shortly after, OBU got hot from downtown. The Tigers hit a pair of threes to eventually snag a nine-point lead. The Weevils answered with a basket, but OBU got the lead back to 10. With 7:13 left, Marcus Gilbert hit one from way downtown to make it a seven-point deficit, and Justin Slocum got a big basket in the paint cutting it to five.
 
The teams continued their back-and-forth play in the final five minutes of the first half, but OBU took a three-point lead into halftime, 42-39.
 
UAM came out of the break trying to turn things around. Following an OBU basket, it was Lesure again hitting a shot from downtown to make it a two-point deficit. Later, Slocum got to the line to tie the game, 44-44. Denzel McDuffey then hit one of two free throws a little later and UAM took a one-point lead.
 
The Weevils went on a game-changing 6-2 run in the middle of the period. Gilbert hit a basket in the paint to make it 48-45 in favor of UAM, and Wanya King got in on the action with a jumper of his own. Following an OBU bucket, Lesure hit back-to-back layups to give UAM a seven-point lead, 54-47.
 
In the final minute of the game, the Tigers cut into the lead making it four in favor of UAM. The Weevils received some clutch free throw shooting though from Lesure to close out the contest. He finished 8-of-8 at the line for the game and UAM held on to win, 76-73.
 
Lesure finished with a team-high 25 points. He also had three boards and two assists.
 
Slocum had 12 points, two rebounds and a pair of assists, and also tallied three blocks on the defensive side of the ball.
 
Both Gilbert and Austin Hardy added 11 points apiece.
 
UP NEXT
UAM will take a break from conference play and host Central Baptist College in Monticello on Tuesday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.