Senior Daniel Maddox scored 17 points and Rowan Ledbetter added 11 as the Ouachita men’s basketball team used a big first-half run to knock off Arkansas-Monticello, 64-54, Feb. 14 at Bill Vining Arena.
The Tigers (13-10 overall, 3-7 GSC West) started the game off strong and pushed the lead to 28-13 in the opening half. The advantage grew to 32-16 as Maddox drained a jumper with 37 seconds left in the first half.
Arkansas-Monticello (16-7, 5-5) opened the second half by cutting the Ouachita lead to 32-4 with 17:57 remaining. After a timeout the Tigers, who were 21-of-49 (43 percent) shooting and 16-of-27 (59 percent) from the foul line, continued to push the advantage after junior Belford Williams scored with 11:50 left giving Ouachita a 45-31 lead.
The Boll Weevils eventually cut the Tiger lead to 50-47 after a 3-pointer by Deron Brown with 4:59 remaining, but a three on the Ouachita offensive end by senior Antonio Benjamin pushed the advantage to 53-43 with 4:24 left.
The Boll Weevils were 21-of-49 (43 percent) from the floor and 4-of-10 (40 percent) from the charity stripe.
Ouachita returns to conference play at 8 tonight at home against Arkansas Tech.
