MONTICELLO, Ark. - Marcus Gilbert hit the go-ahead basket with 2.6 seconds to play while
Micah Speight's 3-pointer missed short as Arkansas-Monticello stunned No. 10 Southern Nazarene 62-60 on Saturday afternoon during Senior Day.
UAM was incredible offensively, shooting 24 of 49 (49%), and despite a pretty good SNU defensive effort, constantly hit tough shot after tough shot. They were 7 of 21 (33%) from deep and 7 of 12 (58%) from the free throw line.
SNU was 22 of 51 (43%) from the field and 7 of 20 (35%) from deep. The Crimson Storm were snake bitten at the free throw line as they only went 9 of 16 (56%).
SNU outrebounded UAM 32-26 and held a 12-9 advantage in assists. The Crimson Storm turned it over 13 times while giving it away 11 times.
SNU got off to an incredible start as
Zach Johnson had the first five points including a steal followed by five points from
Jhonathan Dunn to open up a 10-0 lead.
Dunn, along with a tre from
Micah Speight, pushed the lead out to 16-4 as SNU looked like they were carrying over their great performance against Southern Arkansas.
UAM settled in and began to put jumpers down, but SNU maintained a 23-15 lead going into the the under 8 media timeout.
The Boll Weviles would catch final and go on a 20-7 run to close the first half as they surged ahead 35-30 going into the break.
In the second half, Spieght, along with post play from
Noah Starkey and
R.J. Palmer got things rolling as they evened the game at 39 and eventually moved ahead 43-41 after a lay in from Palmer.
The two teams would go back-and-forth as UAM took a 50-47 lead after a 3-point play from Damontrez Hawes. SNU got a five point burst to move back ahead 52-50 after a three from Speight and a lay in from Dunn.
SNU move back ahead 55-52 with 3:18 to play, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Arkansas-Monticello surged them ahead 58-55 with 1:30 to play.
SNU went into the free throw game and were able to tie it up with 16 seconds to play as Dunn knokced a pair down to even it at 60 a piece. However, Gilbert knocked down the jumper on the other end to put the game away and earn the win on their home floor.
Speight led the way with 13 points, four boards, and four assists to go with two steals while Dunn had 12 points with three boards. Starkey had nine points with 13 boards while Palmer had nine points.
Gilbert led the way with 22 points while KJ Lesure and Austin Hardy each had 12 points a piece,
Southern Nazarene concludes the regular season and 25-5 and 18-4 in the GAC. They will return to play on Thursday as they take on the 8 seed Ouachita Baptist Tigers in the quarterfinals of the GAC Tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.