MONTICELLO — Arkansas-Monticello closed out the first half of Great American Conference games with a 72-59 win over Southern Arkansas on Thursday night.
The Boll Weevils (10-6, 5-5 GAC) hit the 80 percent mark in free-throw shooting for the first time in conference games, making a season-high 20 free throws on 25 attempts. UAM won the rebounding battle 38-30 against SAU (6-10, 2-8), which was leading the conference in rebounding margin heading into Thursday’s game.
UAM controlled the second half, maintaining a double-digit lead throughout the final 15 minutes. The Boll Weevils used a 21-7 scoring run over a period of 4 minutes to grab its largest lead of 21 points with 7:23 remaining in regulation.
Kori Forge scored a game-high 29 points on a 7-of-15 shooting performance, including a 4-of-7 night on three-pointers. Forge finalized his scoring with an 11-of-12 outing at the charity stripe. A.J. Calhoun recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, while Dayton Mickens added 10 points and five rebounds.
Darrin Johnson led SAU with 15 points off the bench.
WOMEN
UAM 78, SAU 65
MONTICELLO — UAM snapped a 12-game losing streak and captured its first Great American Conference victory of the season.
The Cotton Blossoms (3-12, 1-9 GAC) controlled most of the first half, holding a double-digit lead for the final 9 minutes of the opening period. UAM began building its lead at the 15:35 mark of the first half, outscoring SAU (0-15, 0-10 GAC) 20-4 over the next 5 minutes to grab a 15-point lead of 25-10 with 10:15 remaining in the first half.
UAM’s second-half lead grew to as much as 28 points three minutes later on a layup from freshman Nikki Mullen at the 13:52 mark.
Sophomore Catherine Puckett led UAM with 15 points, highlighted by a perfect 8-for-8 performance on foul shots. Freshman Jordan Goforth added 12 points and six rebounds in her 22 minutes of action.
SAU’s Katherine McBride led all scorers with 20 points.
