MONTICELLO, Ark. – A hot shooting night provided a 10-point UAM first-half advantage and ultimately, an insurmountable lead as Oklahoma Baptist fell 82-64 to Arkansas-Monticello inside Steelman Fieldhouse on Thursday night.
The loss drops OBU to 12-13 on the season, including a 9-10 mark in GAC play.
Oklahoma Baptist was held to a 40.9% shooting clip, while the Boll Weevils shot just 50%. Furthermore, Arkansas-Monticello knocked down eight triples compared to OBU's six makes from range.
UAM dominated the painted area, scoring 36 of their sum. Conversely, the Bison were limited to just 16 points in the paint.
Paul King poured in a game-high 21 points with a 12-13 showing at the charity stripe. Ethan Scott added a career-high 17 points on 5-6 shooting, highlighted by four three-pointers.
Joshua Udoumoh scored six points and went 4-4 at the free throw line, while Nigel Wilcox and D.J. Freeman contributed five points.
The squads were neck-in-neck through the first five minutes of action, highlighted by the hot shooting stroke of Scott. The freshman netted three straight triples during the span, solely responsible for nine of OBU's first 12 points.
Tied at 12-all, OBU broke the seal to go ahead by two, courtesy of a Udoumoh layup. However, UAM countered with a three of its own to take the lead.
The action sparked a subtle 9-2 Boll Weevil run over 3:09 that left the tally 21-16 with 10 minutes remaining.
Arkansas-Monticello was held scoreless for the next minute, which allowed King to put OBU on top, 22-21.
However, it didn't faze the Boll Weevils, who reclaimed the advantage, stretching it to eight by the four-minute mark. The comfortable cushion remained until the buzzer signaled halftime and a UAM 37-27 lead.
The Boll Weevils stayed hot in the second half, improving its field-goal percentage to 57.7%. OBU matched their shooting mark from the first 20 minutes, 40.9%, and made just two triples out of nine attempts.
Oklahoma Baptist will rest for a day before heading to Magnolia for a 3 p.m. matchup with Southern Arkansas on Saturday.
