PHOTO GALLERY || BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – East Central dominated the second half against Arkansas-Monticello to score its first Great American Conference Men’s Basketball Championship title, 82-67, on Sunday from Bruin Fieldhouse.
In the first-ever men’s final to feature the GAC’s top two seeds, ECU (24-7) found itself down 37-31 at halftime. They Tigers responded by shooting 69.2 percent in the closing 20 minutes and outscored UAM (23-6) 51-30. Tournament MVP Braxton Reeves heated up in similar fashion. After making just 3-of-12 shots in the first half, he went 4-for-6, including 3-of-5 from the 3-point arc to fuel the comeback.
ECU blitzed UAM with a 25-2 burst that spanned nearly seven minutes to flip a 42-35 deficit into a 60-44 advantage. In the three GAC Championship games, ECU shot a combined 59.5 percent from the floor, as compared to 48.8 percent in the three first halves. The Tigers closed by making 17 of their final 21 shots.
Four Tigers finished in double figures. In addition to Reeves, Aly Hudgins scored 16 points; Ishmael Donzo added 14 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Brett Cannon matched Donzo with 14 points.
Cannon and KD Moore joined Reeves on the All-Tournament team. Cannon averaged 16.0 points per game and went 10-for-18 from the 3-point arc. Moore shot 57.1 percent from the field while averaging 11.3 points and 9.0 rebounds.
Cobe Goosby scored a game-high 23 points for the Weevils. He earned All-Tournament honors, along with Karim Mawuenyega and Vicktor Arnick. Ouachita’s Lakee Westbrook and Arkansas Tech’s Alex Brown completed the eight-man team.
The Tigers locked up their first trip to the NCAA Tournament. Arkansas-Monticello entered the week ranked fourth in the region awaits an at-large bid, as does Arkansas Tech, who came into the tournament ranked seventh. The NCAA will announce the tournament field at 9:30 PM with its selection show on NCAA.com.