A 12-point lead for the University of Arkansas at Monticello men’s basketball team evaporated nearly as quickly as it took the Boll Weevils to build it, and Northwestern Oklahoma State completed the turnaround with a 64-59 win Thursday night at Steelman Field House in Monticello.
The Weevils (7-8, 3-6 Great American) missed a chance to increase their win percentage higher than .500 after picking up back-to-back road wins last week at East Central and Southeastern Oklahoma State. A 27-all tie with 4:24 left before halftime grew to a 37-27 Weevils lead with 46 seconds left in the period. The lead was 37-29 at the break and grew to 43-31 with 17:50 left in the game.
By the 10:07 mark, the Rangers led 48-47.
Turnovers caught up with the Weevils, who started shooting 46.9% (15 of 32) from the floor in the first half but made 26.9% (7 of 26) in the second half. They went cold from the three-point arc in the final 20 minutes, going 0 for 7 until Jakob Zenon made a three right before the final horn.
Ashton Price registered 20 points, 10 rebounds and four steals to lead UAM. Zenon, who was 4 for 7 from the arc, had 14 points, and GianCarlo Valdez finished with 10 rebounds and five points.
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Northwestern’s Max Alexander led all scorers with 26 points, making 8 of 17 from the field and 8 of 11 in free throws. Robbie Armbrester and Keyondre Young each had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Rangers (6-9, 3-6).
Northwestern made 21 of 46 (45.7%) from the floor, going 5 of 13 from three-point range, and converted 17 of 26 free throws. UAM was 6 for 20 from the arc and 9 for 16 in free throws.
WOMEN: Northwestern 77, UAM 62
Earlier Thursday in Monticello, UAM trailed 37-35 until a 21-9 third quarter for 19th-ranked Northwestern took the sails out of the Cotton Blossoms (5-10, 0-9 Great American), who fell to their ninth loss in a row.
Alyssa Batton scored 20 points to lead the Blossoms. She shot 8 of 16 from the floor in 30 minutes of action.
Brilynn Findley (7 of 12 from the floor) totaled 18 points, eight assists, five rebounds and four steals for UAM. Alindsey Long had 10 points and two assists in the loss.
Camille Pritchard led Great American-leading Northwestern (13-2, 8-1) with 21 points, five rebounds and five assists. Pritchard shot 9 of 12 from the floor.
Kira Bass scored 19 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the win. Summya Adigun added eight points and nine rebounds.
UAM will host Southwestern Oklahoma State at 1 p.m. Saturday, with the men to follow.