The University of Arkansas at Monticello men’s basketball team managed an offensive show of force in a 109-74 victory over Champion Christian College at Steelman Field House in Monticello, Arkansas on Saturday. The Weevils had four players in double-figures in scoring and shot 53.9 percent from the floor.
Marcus Gilbert, KJ Lesure, Justin Slocum and Kwame McBean each tallied at least 10 points, while Gilbert went for 25 points, six rebounds and eight assists.
UAM also recorded 34 points off the bench and scored 30 points off turnovers.
The last time the Weevils scored at least 109 points in a game was back in 2017-18 when they managed a 110-59 win over Texas College.
In the first half, Champion Christian kept the score tight during the first 12 minutes. However, UAM went on a big run to push the lead late in the period. With the score 26-19, Wanya King made it 10-point advantage on a three-pointer, and Gilbert bumped it to 13 points with a triple of his own. A few plays later, Lesure got in on the trio of triples when he hit one from downtown to make it a 16-point lead.
Champion Christian did cut into the deficit for a bit, but another run by the Weevils in the final two minutes of the half made it a 22-point lead. With one minute and 55 seconds left in the period, Gilbert dished a ball inside to Denzel McDuffey for a bucket. After a missed three on the other end, King hit McBean with a pass inside and he hit the layup. A few seconds later, it was McBean again off a pass from King.
The Tigers would later get to the free-throw line in the final seconds, but Austin Hardy put an exclamation point to the end of the half with a three to give UAM a 55-33 lead at the break.
The offense continued to roll in the second half as that lead swelled quite a bit. With 11:17 left in the contest, Gilbert made it a 30-point advantage after a free throw.
UAM’s lead got to its biggest margin of the game at 6:43 when Lesure hit a nice jumper to make it a 95-58 advantage, a 37-point lead.
Champion Christian shrunk the lead back down to a 29-point advantage, but Slocum would get it back up to plus-30 when he slammed home a big-time dunk on an assist by Gilbert.
The Weevils would later coast to the victory getting their point total to triple-digits, winning 109-74.
UAM got plenty of scoring balance all over the place with all except one player who rotated in recording at least one point.
With the win, UAM improves to 2-1 on the season, while Champion Christian drops to 2-2.
UP NEXT
UAM will begin conference play on Thursday when it hosts Harding University at the Steelman Field House in Monticello, Arkansas. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 following the UAM women’s game.
