MONTICELLO – The University of Arkansas at Monticello men’s basketball team clinched a spot in the 2009 Gulf South Conference Championship Tournament with a 78-62 win over Harding Saturday evening.
 
The Weevils (18-7, 7-5 GSC) earn their second consecutive spot in the conference championship tournament after securing the No. 4 seed in last season’s event.
 
In the win over Harding (15-10, 5-7 GSC), UAM shot 52 percent (32-of-62) and out-rebounded the Bisons by a final margin of 45-26, resulting in the lop-sided second chance points total margin of 21-6.
 
Harding allowed the Weevils to jump out to a quick eight-point lead of 14-6 just five minutes into the contest, but responded with a 10-0 run, capped off by a three-pointer from Bison guard Stephen Blake to give his team a one-point lead with 11:36 left in the half. Blake gave the Bisons their second and final lead of the game with another three-pointer in the next possession to put the Bisons on top by two. That trey gave HU its largest lead of the contest.
 
From that point, the Weevils grew their lead to as much as 18 points with 18:51 left in the second half.
 
Individually, senior Raymond Wright led the way with a game-high 22 points after hitting 10-of-16 field goal attempts. Also reaching double-digits were senior Deron Brown with 17, sophomore D’Angelo Dean with 14 and senior Bernard Seymour with 11 points.
 
Harding was led by Stephen Blake and Steven Barnett, both scoring 18 points in the loss.
 
The Weevils continue GSC play with a road contest against Arkansas Tech this upcoming Thursday, February 26. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. at ATU’s Tucker Coliseum. UAM beat ATU earlier this season at home by a final score of 56-53