CLEVELAND, Miss. – The No. 24 ranked University of Arkansas at Monticello men’s basketball team picked up a conference win over Delta State on Thursday night by a final score of 75-70.

 

In the last four minutes of the first half, UAM held the Statesmen scoreless while scoring six points to take a 29-24 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

 

After the Weevils scored the first four point of the ball game, Delta State was able to gain a six-point lead just six minutes into the contest, but senior Don Riley (Pine Bluff, Ark.) grabbed an offensive rebound and followed with a lay-up to tie the game at 23-all with 2:53 left in the half. On UAM’s next possession, senior Bernard Seymour (Biloxi, Miss.) nailed a jumper to re-gain the lead for the Weevils with 2:21 left.

 

In the second half, senior Raymond Wright (New York, N.Y.) scored the first five points of the period with a pair of jump-shots and a free-throw.

 

The Weevil’s defense continued to play strong, continuing the Statesmen scoring draught for almost eight minutes, ended by a lay-up from DSU’s Oliver Mansour at the 16:50 mark. The last Statesmen field goal was at the 4:16 mark in the first half.

 

UAM was able to grow its lead to as much as 15 points in the second half, with just over six minutes remaining before the Statesmen used an 11-2 scoring run to decrease the Weevil lead to six points with just under three minutes left in regulation. During that span, the Weevils committed five turnovers due to DSU’s pressure defense.

 

UAM finished the game shooting 51 percent from the field, 39 percent from three-point range and 64 percent from the foul line, while DSU shot 43 percent from the field, 31 percent from three-point range and 73 percent from the foul line.

 

The Weevils also won the rebounding battle by a final count of 36 to 29. UAM grabbed 13 offensive boards, while DSU picked up 10.

 

Individually, Raymond Wright led the Weevils with 24 points after shooting 9-of-14 from the field and 6-of-10 from the foul line. Wright also tied Derek Easter for a team-high seven rebounds.

 

Also reaching double-digits in the game for the Weevils was Don Riley with 16 points and senior Deron Brown (Paris, Ky.) with 15 points. Brown shot 3-of-5 from three-point range.

 

For the Statesmen, Alton Robinson scored 21 points, followed by Eric Spencer with 18 and Joe McCray with 11.

 

UAM improves its overall record to 12-3 and 1-1 in the GSC, while DSU drops to 11-4 overall and 1-1 in the GSC.

 

UAM continues conference play with a home match-up against Ouachita Baptist this Saturday, January 17. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. at Steelman Fieldhouse.

 

Fans can catch the action live on the radio in southeast Arkansas at radio station KHBM-FM, 93.7. That broadcast can also be heard over the Internet at UAM’s official athletics website, uamsports.com.