WEATHERFORD – After a three-game skid, SWOSU earned a hard-fought 71-63 win over Arkansas-Monticello. The Dawgs found their groove on offense, scoring 42 second-half points led by a combined 25 second half points from
Denali Alexander (15) and
Eli Al-Debaran (10) in his first game back after missing over a month due to injury.
SWOSU had to weather a first half that saw them shoot 1-9 from the deep ball. The game was tied at 29-29 before UAM notched seven straight points in the final two minutes to close out the half. UAM's 36 halftime points were the most for the Boll Weevils in the first half against any NCAA opponent.
The Bulldogs fell behind by nine after a layup opened the second half. However,
Kray Rogers knocked down a much needed three, and
Nate Reherman finished off a layup in heavy traffic to get back into the game. The big momentum shift came when Al-Debaran knocked down his first two shot attempts after coming off the bench, closing out a 13-0 run in five minutes of game time to give them a 42-38 lead – a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.
SWOSU took 28 free throws, the second-highest mark of the season, with 20 free throws coming in the latter half.
Tobias Roland led the way by shooting 9-11 (81.8%)
Alexander led the way with 16 total points, a season high, going 7-10 from the line and grabbing four rebounds. Roland and
MJ Warrior both contributed 13 points, with Warrior dishing out five assists and a career-high five steals. Al-Debaran added his 10 points, all in the second half.
The final numbers had SWOSU at 22-46 (47.8%) from the field, the highest shooting percentage in the last eight games. They went 5-18 (27.8%) from deep. UAM shot 22-59 (37.3%), making the same number of shots as the Dawgs but attempting 13 more due to a 12-7 advantage on the offensive boards and a free throw disparity of 28-13 in favor of SWOSU. UAM went 8-28 (28.6%) from three, with both makes and attempts being the most for the Boll Weevils this season.
SWOSU will be on the road again next week, starting with Northwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday, January 23. Then, the Dawgs will travel to Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday, January 25, to close out the week's games.
