Bison pull away late from Weevils

An opportunity to stay in a tie for fourth place in Great American Conference standings fell through in the final seconds for the University of Arkansas at Monticello men’s basketball team.

UAM stormed from an 11-point deficit and pulled within 62-60 with 1:08 left, but Ricky Brown made 2 free throws and a layup after a Boll Weevils turnover to secure Oklahoma Baptist University’s 66-61 win Saturday in Shawnee, Okla.

UAM (11-14, 9-11 Great American) dropped 2 games over the weekend and is now sixth in the 12-team conference with 2 games left: 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Harding University and 3 p.m. next Saturday at home against Ouachita Baptist University. Harding (12-13, 9-10) is a game ahead of UAM.

The top 8 teams advance to the Great American tournament at FireLake Arena in Shawnee.

Oklahoma Baptist (11-15, 8-12), which is tied for seventh, led 35-24 at halftime and was in front for 33 minutes. UAM last led 11-10.

Isaac Jackson and Zane Nelson each scored 16 points and Timur Krupalija had 11 in the loss. Daniel Ransom had 17 points, Ricky Brown scored 14 and Trevin Wade added 12 points for the Bison.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL OKLA. BAPTIST 61, UAM 60

Jill Leslie came through in the final 75 seconds with go-ahead free throws and an insurance jumper and Oklahoma Baptist held off UAM on Saturday.

Leslie gave Oklahoma Baptist a 59-57 lead with the 2 free tosses and, after Bailey Harris missed a 3-pointer on the other end, swished a jumpshot with 23 seconds left to put the Bison up by 4. Hailey Crews made a 3-point shot with 2 seconds left to pull the Cotton Blossoms within 1.

Oklahoma Baptist (11-15, 8-12 Great American) led 29-25 at halftime in a game that saw seven lead changes. The Bison were strong on the offensive glass with 27 second-chance points and scored 26 points in the paint, while UAM (8-18, 4-16) had 4 second-chance points and 18 in the paint.

Crews had 13 points, Alyssia Thorne scored 12 and totaled 8 rebounds, Harris scored 11 and Azaria Hulbert had 10 points for UAM, which made 20 of 45 (44.4%) from the floor and made 12 of 14 free throws.

Jaedyn Getman led the Bison with 18 points and Madison Chambers scored 17. The Bison made 22 of 65 (33.8%) from the floor, but converted 10 of 13 free throws.

Tied at the bottom of conference standings with East Central University, UAM has two games remaining: 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Harding and 1 p.m. next Saturday at home against Ouachita.

ON THE DIAMOND

In baseball, UAM won its sixth game in a row with an 11-10 decision over Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Okla. The second game of a doubleheader was ongoing at the copy deadline.

Statistics from the first game were unavailable. The Weevils (7-5, 5-0 Great

American) have won three games by 1 run each, including Friday’s 10-9 win over Southeastern.

In softball, Kennedy Cox smashed 2 home runs and Bailey Camp went 3 for 4 in UAM’s 6-3 win over Southeastern in Monticello. Cox had 3 RBIs and Kyann Woods struck out 4 and allowed 2 hits in 4 1/3 innings for the win.

UAM (10-7, 2-1 Great American) will visit Mississippi College for a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Clinton, Miss.

Southeast Arkansas College’s softball team lost a twin bill, 9-0 and 6-3, to Bossier Parish Community College in Pine Bluff on Saturday.