MONTICELLO – In a game that saw eight tied scores and seven lead changes, the Christian Brothers Buccaneers came away the 68-64 victors over the University of Arkansas at Monticello men’s basketball team in this season’s Gulf South Conference opener.
 
In the first half, the score differential stayed close to three points for the first 10 minutes, until the Buccaneers found themselves ahead by eight points with a jump-shot from GSC leading-scorer Nick Kohs to give the Bucs a 20-12 lead with 7:37 left in the half.
 
Thanks to 66 percent field goal shooting for the Bucs, CBU created an 11-0 scoring run over the next eight minutes to grow its lead to as much as 15 points at 31-16 with two minutes left in the half.
 
Throughout the remainder of the half, the Weevils created a 9-2 scoring run, capped off by a three-pointer from senior Don Riley (Pine Bluff, Ark.) to pull the Buc lead down to seven points at the halftime break by a score of 32-25.
 
Out of the locker room, the Weevils scored five points in less than a minute to trim the Buc lead to three points. Three of those points by way of a three-pointer from junior Derek Easter (El Dorado, Ark.) at the 19:05 mark.
 
On the other end of the court, Easter was assessed a personal foul, followed by a technical foul, allowing CBU to have four foul shots, two made by Reggie Peyton and two from Nick Kohs. Those foul shots allowed the Bucs to extend their lead from two points to six points in the matter of 20 seconds.
 
The Weevils answered over the next six minutes, including re-gaining the lead with back-to-back three pointers by Riley to give UAM a 41-39 edge with 11:44 left in regulation.
 
After allowing the Bucs to re-gain the lead, senior Deron Brown (Paris, Ky.) put the Weevils back on top with a three-pointer, giving UAM a 49-46 lead with just under seven minutes left.
 
The two teams exchanged baskets over next five minutes before CBU gained a significant advantage by stopping the Weevil offense, followed an emphatic slam dunk by CBU’s Kohs to give the Bucs a five-point lead of 62-57 with just over two minutes left.
 
CBU’s Reggie Peyton sunk a free-throw to give the Bucs a five-point lead with 12 seconds left. Brown sunk a free-throw for the Weevils with one second remaining to finalize the scoring at 68-64 in favor of CBU.
 
Individually, UAM was led by Easter with 15 points, followed by Riley with 11 and senior Raymond Wright (New York, N.Y.) with 10 points. Wright finished the game with nine rebounds, just one shy of a double-double.
UAM drops 11-3 overall and 0-1 in GSC play, while CBU improves to 12-3 and 1-0 in the GSC.
 
The Weevils continue conference action Thursday, January 15 with an 8 p.m. contest in Cleveland, Miss. against Delta State. Fans can catch the action live on the air in southeast Arkansas on radio station KHBM-FM, 93.7. That broadcast will also be available on UAM’s official athletics website at uamsports.com.