Daniel Maddox scored 17 points and Rowan Ledbetter added 11 as the Ouachita Baptist University men’s basketball team used a big first-half run to knock off Arkansas-Monticello, 64-54, Saturday night in a Gulf South Conference West Division game 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 after Ed Keyes sank one-of-two at the free-throw line with 4:17 remaining 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 after a 3-pointer by Dean D’Angelo 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 Belford Williams scored on a layup with 11:50 left to give Ouachita a 45-31 lead.
The Boll Weevils tried to trim the margin and 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 Antonio Benjamin pushed the advantage to 53-43 with 4:24 left.
Arkansas-Monticello trimmed the deficit to 55-50 on a jumper by Dean with 2:28 left, but that would be as close as the Boll Weevils would get.
Brown paced Arkansas-Monticello with 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting, while Bernard Seymour added 11 points. Dean finished with 10 as 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 Gulf South Conference West Division action 8:00 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 19 at Bill Vining Arena against Arkansas Tech. The game can be heard on the Ouachita Baptist University Athletic Web site at: www.obutigers.com.
