First Place Southeastern Tops UAM Boll Weevils, 67-61

Courtesy UAM Athletics Department

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State outscored the University of Arkansas at Monticello men’s basketball team 43-29 in the second half to record a 67-61 victory over the Boll Weevils on Saturday in Great American Conference action.

The Southeastern win keeps the Savage Storm (9-3, 5-1 GAC) in first place in the GAC standings, while the UAM loss snaps a three-game winning streak for the Boll Weevils (7-5, 2-4 GAC).

UAM jumped out to a quick five-point lead four minutes into the contest, but the Savage Storm responded with a 10-0 run to grab a 13-8 advantage at the 13:35 mark. Southeastern kept its lead and grabbed as much as a seven-point advantage over the next nine minutes before UAM posted a 10-2 scoring run, including a pair of three-pointers from junior Ramon Mejia, to take a 25-24 lead at the 4:30 mark.

UAM scored the final 10 points of the first half to take an eight-point lead of 32-24 into the locker room at the halftime break. Ramon Mejia made four three-pointers in the first half and had 14 points at the break.

The Boll Weevils maintained their lead throughout the first eight minutes of the second half, and even led by as much as nine points on a jumper from junior Dayton Mickens at the 14:16 mark. Southeastern responded with an 8-0 run to take a one-point lead of 45-44 with 11:16 remaining in regulation. That run sparked a back-and-forth exchange over the next five minutes before Southeastern took the lead for good at the 5:24 mark on a layup from Chris Roussell.

UAM got back to within two points with 1:17 remaining on a pair of technical foul free throws from senior Kori Forge, but Southeastern’s Roussell responded with a wide-open layup on the other end with 21 seconds on the clock to quiet UAM’s rally.

As a team, UAM shot 39 percent from the field (22-of-57), 24 percent on three-pointers (4-of-17) and 57 percent on foul shots (13-of-23). Southeastern shot 47 percent from the field (27-of-57), 38 percent on three-pointers (6-of-16) and 78 percent on foul shots (7-of-9).

Despite only recording two points in the second half, Mejia led the Weevils with 16 points, followed by senior A.J. Calhoun with his second consecutive double-double and fourth of the year, scoring 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Mickens and Forge also reached double-digits in scoring with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Southeastern’s Chris Roussell led all scorers with 19 points and eight rebounds. Travis Timmons and Steven Kohli added 15 and 14 points, respectively.

UAM returns to action on Thursday, January 10 against Southern Nazarene at home. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. inside Steelman Fieldhouse.