PHOTO GALLERY || BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Arkansas-Monticello rallied back from a double-digit deficit to defeat Arkansas Tech, 88-79, in Saturday’s second Great American Conference Men’s Basketball Championship semifinal contest from Bruin Fieldhouse.
Arkansas Tech (21-7), No. 7 in Wednesday’s NCAA Division II Central Region Rankings, build a nine-point advantage on three occasions in the second half. UAM (23-5) used a 14-3 run in the middle of the period to take its first lead of the half at 62-60 and its first lead since 13-12.
For the second-straight GAC Championship game, the Weevil duo of Karim Mawuenyega and Cobe Goosby led the offense. Mawuenyega hit six 3-pointers in scoring a game-high 23 points. Goosby again stuffed the stat sheet as he added 22 points, to go along with seven rebounds and five assists. The two heated up in the final 12 minutes as combined to make eight of their last 10 shots, including six 3-pointers.
All five of the Weevil starters reached double figures in scoring and they accounted for 82 of their 88 points. Vicktor Arnick produced a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds; Derylton Hill and Tyrin Jones each added 10 points.
Justin Graham led the Wonder Boy offensive attack as he poured in 19 points. Alex Brown hit 7-of-10 shots as part of his 14-point, eight-rebound nith. Montrell Williams added 10 points.
The Weevils became the first Division II team to win at least 23 games in a season one year after losing at least 20 games since South Carolina-Aiken and Florida Southern both achieved this feat in 2007-08. Saturday’s win also represented the first time in the Weevils’ Division II era that they have won multiple games at a single conference tournament.
UAM will face East Central in a matchup featuring two of the Central Region’s top four team in Sunday’s 3:30 PM title contest. The game streams on GACSportsNetwork.com. The Weevils and Tigers split the two regular-season contests with the winner reaching the 100-point mark in both matchups. Both seek their first GAC Championship title. For the first time in the six-year history of the GAC, the top two seeds successfully navigated their way to the final.