MONTICELLO, Ark. – The University of Arkansas at Monticello men's basketball team fell in overtime against Southern Nazarene University in a Great American Conference contest from the Steelman Field House in Monticello, Arkansas, 62-61. The Weevils had the ball in the final seconds with a chance to win, but the shot was no good.
 
The game certainly came down to the wire and was the Weevils lowest-scoring game of the season. It was also UAM's third overtime contest this year.
 
Wanya King, Denzel McDuffey and KJ Lesure each finished in double-figures in the loss.
 
It was slow-going for both teams early. Southern Nazarene took an early five-point advantage. Shooting on both sides did not really improve until the final few minutes of the half.
 
With the Weevils trailing by eight, King drained a triple to cut the lead to five. Later, McDuffey joined in on the action and to conclude scoring in the period, King hit another deep three to make it a four-point game at the break, 26-22.
 
UAM trailed most of the second period and it was not until there were a little under six minutes left that the Weevils made a move. Lesure hit a jumper to give the Weevils a 47-46 lead. SNU then responded to take a three-point advantage and with 3:56 remaining in the game, Lesure got the fans on their feet as he drilled a three to tie the contest, 50-50.
 
After the Crimson Storm took the lead back, 52-50, Justin Slocum made big basket inside and drew a foul. He would hit the free throw to put UAM up one. He then put the Weevils up three on a similar play, drawing foul while getting a bucket, but he missed the free throw.
 
With a little over a minute left, SNU got to the line and hit one-of-two free throws to make it a two-point game. Following a missed jumper on UAM's side, Jhonathan Dunn hit a jumper with 21 seconds on the clock. The Weevils missed a layup to win the game with three seconds left sending the contest into overtime.
 
In the overtime period, SNU went up by six with a little over two minutes remaining. McDuffey got the fans back into it with a nice layup. A little later, King pulled up from deep and got fouled. He then hit all three of his free throws to put UAM down one, 62-61. Southern Nazarene then missed a jumper on the other end and the Weevils got the ball with 11.0 seconds on the clock. Lesure drove in, but his shot went off the front iron and fell. The Weevils ended up dropping the game in overtime, 62-61.
 
Both teams shot under 40.0 in the contest. For the Weevils, it's just the second time all season they failed to shoot at least 40.0 percent in a game.
 
King and McDuffey both finished with 15 points. McDuffey ended up with a double-double snagging 11 rebounds while also forcing three steals and swatting a shot for a block. King was 4-of-5 from downtown while grabbing five rebounds. He also was credited with a block.
 
Lesure rallied for 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.
 
With the loss, the Weevils have now dropped five straight falling to 13-7 overall and 5-6 in league games, while Southern Nazarene improves to 14-5 overall and 8-3 in GAC competition.
 
UP NEXT
UAM will aim to stop the bleeding on Saturday when it hosts Oklahoma Baptist University. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. following the women's game.