ARKADLEPHIA, ARK. – The East Central University men's basketball team fell to league-leading Ouachita Baptist, 61-80 at Bill Vining Arena.

The Tigers (16-8, 10-6 GAC) were led by junior Stirling Thomas, who tallied 20 points.  Redshirt sophomore Braxton Reeves added 14 points, while senior Henry Pwono led the team with seven rebounds.

OBU (17-4, 13-3 GAC) took an early 7-0 advantage and never let ECU garner a lead throughout the game.  Ouachita Baptist kept pushing the tempo throughout the first half and went into the locker room with a 22-41 advantage.

ECU cut the disadvantage to 13 in the first three minutes of the second half on a 13-3 run.  The lead remained around 12-15 points for the next four minutes when the Tigers tried another come-back run.  This time ECU cut the disadvantage to seven (52-59) on a 12-4 run. 

However, OBU responded with an 8-0 run to push the lead back to double-digits before earning the 61-80 win.

The Tigers struggled to score through the game, making only 35.5 percent of their shots, while OBU hit 53.2 percent of their attempts.

ECU will now return home for two games at the Kerr Activities Center.  The Tigers will host Arkansas Tech, Thursday, Feb. 19 for the annual PinkOut Game at 7:30 p.m.