TOLIN NOTCHES WIN 100 AS WEEVILS TOP TECH

MONTICELLO, Ark. – University of Arkansas at Monticello men’s basketball coach Kyle Tolin picks up a milestone victory as the Weevils top Arkansas Tech on Saturday. UAM (8-3, 7-3 GAC) converted turnovers into points throughout the contest to take down the Wonder Boys 67-62 and earn win number 100 for Coach Tolin at the helm of the UAM men’s basketball program.

“This is neat and there’s been a lot of hard work, but there’s been a lot of good players and a lot of people that have helped me along the way,” Coach Tolin said after the game about reaching 100 career wins at UAM. “It hasn’t just been something that I’ve done. It’s been something that there’s been a collective group. Being able to do it with this group right here, I think that’s pretty special.”

The Weevils fell behind early and trailed the majority of the first half. UAM took its first lead of the contest with just under six minutes to play in the half when DaJuan Jones turned an ATU (5-5, 3-5 GAC) turnover into a three-point bucket to take the lead 17-16. The lead got stretched up to six, but the Wonder Boys hit a three in the closing second to make it a 32-29 advantage for the Weevils at the break.

Defensively, UAM held Tech to just 1-of-8 from downtown during the first half while knocking down seven triples on the other end. Jones carried the scoring load for the Weevils in the opening half with 11 points including three buckets from beyond the arc.

The two teams traded buckets early in the second half until the Wonder Boys went on an 11-4 run to take a five point lead with 13:21 to play. UAM turned right back around responding with a 15-2 run of its own to take its largest lead of the game 57-49 seven minutes left.

Tech cut the deficit to a single possession multiple times in the final three minutes, but UAM responded each time with a clutch bucket on the other end. Keyon Cradduck helped the Weevils close out the 67-62 win over the Wonder Boys with a pair of steals on back-to-back possessions in the final minute.

While Coach Tolin appreciates the victory and reaching the 100-win milestone, he said he told his players after the game, “I’m more interested in you guys getting the chance to cut down nets or put rings on fingers or trophies in the trophy case. That’s going to be more fun for me – seeing you graduate from here than 100 wins.”

Jones led UAM in scoring with 18 points in the contest to go along with three assists. Max Warren and Denzel McDuffey also tallied double-digit scoring efforts with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Alvarez Powell had a breakout game in the scoring column as well dropping 16 points on five made three-pointers.

As a team, the Weevils converted 16 turnovers by ATU into 20 points while adding another 19 points by attacking the offensive glass.

UP NEXT

UAM travels to Magnolia, Ark. to take on Southern Arkansas Monday at 6 p.m.