MONTICELLO, Ark. – The University of Arkansas at Monticello Men's Basketball team hosted Arkansas Tech on Thursday afternoon for the first home conference game of the season. The Weevils came out with a 87-81 loss to the Wonder Boys in a thrilling showdown to open GAC play.

Zane Nelson once again led the way for Arkansas-Monticello (1-4) with a monstrous 36 points, going 11-21 on total field goals, 6-10 from beyond-the-arc, and 8-10 from the free point line. Nelson also contributed three total rebounds on the evening, with one offensive and two defensive rebounds on top of four steals and three assists.

Isaac Jackson was the other Boll Weevil in double-digits, posting 23 points of his own throughout the game. Jackson drilled 10-16 total field goals, 1-2 shots from deep, and 2-2 on free throws while contributing a team-leading six rebounds and an assist.
 
Arkansas Tech was led by Taelon Peter with 33 points.

Arkansas-Monticello was the first team on the board in the match-up, seeing an early jumper from Issac Jackson. The Wonder boys quickly retaliated and reclaimed a 13-4 lead over the home team. UAM stopped the bleeding with a three from Zane Nelson and a shot from Jackson in the paint. ATU continued to build and maintain their lead throughout the remainder of the half, seeing a half-high advantage of 11 points. The Boll Weevils clawed their way back two a six-point deficit, hitting 42% of field goals throughout the opening 20 minutes, compared to the Wonder Boys' 65%. The teams head to the locker room with Tech leading, 38-32.

The second half began with four points to the visiting team. Cole Anderson gave the Weevils some momentum, driving in a basket. A three near the middle of the half pushed the Wonder Boys to a game-high 12-point lead over Monticello. Nelson and Jackson continued to lead the charge for UAM, helping the Weevils push back to being down by one with 0:26 on the clock. Despite the Weevils best efforts the Wonder Boys found a way to hold their lead and close out the thrilling conference opener with an 87-81 win over the Weevils.

Arkansas-Monticello committed 15 turnovers in the entirety of the match.

GAME DAY SPONSOR
UAM Athletics would like to give a massive shout out to Thursday night's game day sponsor, Dominos Pizza! Thank you for your continued support of UAM Athletics!


 
UP NEXT
The Weevils travel to Arkadelphia, Arkansas on Saturday, Dec. 2 to take on in-state Great American Conference member Henderson State University. The game is scheduled to tip off at 3:00 p.m. 

How to follow the Weevils: For more information on Arkansas-Monticello Men's Basketball, visit www.uamsports.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

#GoWeevils | #WeevilNation