PHOTO GALLERY || BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Arkansas-Monticello picked up its first ever win at the Great American Conference Men’s Basketball Championships at the co-regular-season champions led vritually the entire game in a 72-58 quarterfinal victory against Harding on Thursday from Bruin Fieldhouse.
Cobe Goosby led the Weevils (22-5) as he flirted with a triple-double. He scored 11 points, pulled down 17 rebounds and dished out eight assists. The 17 boards tied a GAC Championship single-game record, a mark established by a former Weevil, Brandon Sims, against Southwestern Oklahoma State on March 8, 2013.
Two more of the Weevis’ talented junior class, Karim Mawuenyega and Derylton Hill, led team in scoring as Mawuenyega totaled 22 points on 5-of-7 shooting, 3-of-5 from the 3-point arc and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. Hill registered his sixth double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
The Weevils won their first postseason game since earning an victory in the opening round of the 2009 Gulf South Championships. The 22 wins represent the most for the program in its Division II era and the most since the 1985-86 team posted a 26-10 record.
Harding (14-13), the GAC’s second-most prolific 3-point shooting team never consistently found the range as they just 5-of-35 from beyond the arc, its fewest 3-point baskets on the season. Will Francis led the Bisons with 13 points and finished the season shooting exactly 50.0 percent from the 3-point arc.
Arkansas-Monticello, the No. 4 team in the recent NCAA Division II Central Region rankings will take on the winner of Friday’s Arkansas Tech-Southern Arkansas contest in Saturday’s second men’s semifinal, set for 8:00 PM on GACSportsNetwork.com. The Weevils dropped both contests to the Wonder Boys and split with the rival Muleriders.