The Ouachita Baptist University men’s basketball team fell just short in upsetting No. 24 Arkansas-Monticello Saturday afternoon as the Tigers lost, 58-49, in a Gulf South Conference West Division game at the Steelman Fieldhouse.
Roger Eiland led the Tigers (10-6 overall, 0-3 GSC West) with 13 points. Daniel Maddox added 10 as Ouachita was 22-of-51 (43 percent) from the floor shooting and had 28 rebounds.
Arkansas-Monticello (13-3, 2-1) raced out to a 7-3 lead after a 3-pointer by Raymond Wright with 15:17 left. However, Ouachita rallied to tie the contest at 7 after a Brandon Rose layup with 13:48 remaining.
The Boll Weevils grabbed a 10-7 advantage after a three by Don Riley, but the Tigers got a layup by Eiland and a 3-pointer by Rowan Ledbetter to take a 12-10 lead with 10:12 remaining in the opening half.
Arkansas-Monticello halted a 9-3 Tigers run when Derek Easter and Wright scored on back-to-back putbacks to tie the game at 14 with 7:37 left.
The Boll Weevils used a 12-5 run, capped by a Wright layup to give Arkansas-Monticello a 26-19 advantage with 2:05 left, forcing Tigers coach Charlie Schaef to call timeout.
Neither team could score in the final two minutes of the first half as the Tigers went into the half trailing 26-19.
Ouachita was 8-of-22 (36.4 percent) from the floor and had 10 rebounds. Meanwhile, the Boll Weevils were 10-of-32 (31.3 percent) shooting and had 26 rebounds, but couldn’t take advantage of the edge on the boards with just eight second-chance points.
Arkansas-Monticello took a 33-25 lead with 17:10 remaining on a Riley 3-pointer, but Antonio Benjamin scored on a short jumper and drained a 3-pointer to cut the margin to 33-30 with 16:23 left.
Wright, who had 16 points and eight rebounds at the half, and Deron Brown helped the Boll Weevils use a 9-0 run to grab a 39-30 advantage with 14:35 remaining.
The Tigers pulled to within 42-36 after an Eiland putback, but Duke Sturdivant extended the advantage to 45-36 after a layup and free throw with 9:50 left.
Ouachita continued to find ways to trim the deficit as Rose and Eiland scored on back-to-back layup to cut the margin to 47-43 with 6:52 remaining. Ledbetter trimmed the Boll Weevils lead to 47-45 with a little under six minutes left on a layup.
The Tigers climbed all the way back from a nine-point, second-half deficit as Maddox and Quintin Smith scored on back-to-back trips down the floor to tie the contest at 49 with 3:50 left to force Arkansas-Monticello Mike Newell to call a timeout.
After the timeout Sturdivant drained a long 3-pointer to put the Boll Weevils ahead 52-49 with 3:15 remaining. The Boll Weevils put the game away in the final minute and a half as Wright scored on a short jumper. Wright and Easter had back-to-back dunks in the midst of an 9-0 run to close out the game.
Wright was the only Boll Weevil player to reach double figures as he recorded a double-double with 28 points and 12 rebounds. Arkansas-Monticello was 22-of-62 for 35.5 percent from the field and grabbed 58 rebounds.
Ouachita, which played back-to-back ranked opponents for the first time this season, completes a two-game road swing 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 22 at Arkansas Tech in a Gulf South Conference West Division game. The contest can be heard on the Ouachita Baptist University Athletic Web site at: obutigers.com or on KYXK-FM 106.9 and through live stats at: http://athletics.atu.edu/livestats/xlive.htm
