ADA, Okla. – In a battle between two of the four teams tied for first place in the Great American Conference, the East Central University men's basketball team claimed a thrilling 129-122 triple-overtime victory over Arkansas-Monticello at the Kerr Activities Center.

Scoring

• 1^st Half: 43-31
  • The Tigers (12-2, 6-2 GAC) opened the game in control, taking a 28-4 lead in the first 9 minutes
  • The Boll Weevils (11-4, 5-3 GAC) followed with an 8-0 run over the next 2 minutes
  • The teams traded points for the next 1:30 minutes
  • UAM then used a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to 12 (37-25)
  • ECU's advantage remained between 10-12 for the rest of the stanza
• 2^nd Half: 43-55 (86-86)
  • In the first 1:30 minutes of the half, the Boll Weevils went on a 10-4 run to cut the disadvantage to 6
  • UAM continued its push and gained a 51-50 lead, with 14:35 left in the half
  • The teams traded points for the next 2:30 minutes, resulting in a 55-all tie
  • The Boll Weevils then went on a 4-0 run to gain their biggest lead (4), with 10:46 left
  • The teams traded points over the next 2 minutes
  • The Tigers fought back with a 6-0 run to regain a 2-point advantage (69-67) over the next minute
  • The teams resumed the back-and-forth battle for the next 3 minutes
  • UAM then went on a 6-0 run to gain a 5-point (84-79) advantage, with 3 minutes remaining
  • ECU cut the lead to 1 over the next minute
  • The Boll Weevils hit a jumper with 1:12 left and both teams went cold until 28 seconds remained
  • Sr. Zac Neely then hit a triple to tie the game and force overtime
• 1^st Overtime: 12-12 (98-98)
  • The teams traded shots the entire stanza
    • No team lead by more than one possession
• 2^nd Overtime: 9-9 (107-107)
  • The teams traded shots the entire stanza
    • No team lead by more than one possession
• 3^rd Overtime: 22-15 (129-122)
  • The Tigers then took control for good right from the start of the final period
    • Used a 14-0 run through the first 3 minutes to gain the needed advantage
    • Run was sparked when Sr. Camron Talley made 2 free throws after a technical foul was assessed to the UAM bench
  • Kept the lead around 12 until the final 30 seconds
  • UAM then used a 6-1 run to cut the deficit to 7

Tiger Quick Shots

• This was the second-highest scoring game in ECU history
  • Highest scoring game was 141-116 vs. Tinker Field (1964-65)
  • Old previous second highest was Dec. 16, 2017 vs. Dallas Christian (128-82)
• Fourth time in 2019-20 that ECU has scored over 100 points in a game
  • Second-highest number of 100-point games in a single season
    • Season best is 6 in 2009-10
    • Third time in head coach Ja Haven's tenure to have 3-or-more 100-point games
    • Haven's has seen 18 100-point games in his 7 years leading the team
• Game was tied 12 times and saw 16 lead changes
• The Tigers earned the advantage partly due to points in the paint
  • ECU – 62 / UAM – 42
• Big difference came at the free-throw line
  • ECU: 29-of-25 (82.9%) / UAM: 23-of-27 (85.2%)
• Five players scored in double-digits
  • Three of the 5 had career highs in the points column
• Sr. Camron Talley recorded his third 30+ point game of the season and the sixth of his career
  • 33 pts., 2 reb., 5 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal, 50.0 (9-of-18) FG%, 50.0 (5-of-10) 3PT FG%, 10-of-12 FT
    • Career high for blocks and free throws made
    • Season high for assists
  • Moved up to No. 5 in the Tigers 1,000 Point Club list
    • Currently 1,671 points
    • Moved past Jason Wilkerson – 1,641 (1999-04)
    • Just 7 points from No. 4 held by DeMarcus Bolton – 1,678 (1998-02)
• Sr. Zac Neely tallied his first career double-double
  • 26 pts., 12 reb., 2 assists, 1 block, 62.5 (10-of-16) FG%, 44.4 (4-of-9) 3PT FG%, 2-of-2 FT
    • Career high for points, rebounds, blocks, field goals made, 3-point field goals made
• So. Gerren Jackson and Jr. Caleb Williams both recorded career highs for points
  • Jackson: 22 pts., 6 reb., 3 assists, 1 block, 1 steal, 43.7 (7-of-16) FG%, 6-of-8 FT
    • Career high for points and blocks
    • Season high for free throws made
  • Williams: 21 pts., 5 reb., 4 assists, 2 steals, 70.0 (7-of-10) FG%, 7-of-9 FT
    • Career high for points, assists, field goals made and free throws made
• So. Tylor Arnold was the final player in double-digits in the scoring column
  • 10 pts., 4 reb., 9 assists, 50.0 (4-of-8) FG%, 2-of-2 FT
    • Ties Jackson for a GAC record for assists in a game
• All but 1 of the 9 players that saw action scored at least 1 point and had at least 1 rebound
• ECU is tied with Henderson State and Southeastern for first in the GAC standings at 6-2

Up Next

• The Tigers will now start a four-game road trip
  • Thursday, Jan. 16 at Southeastern (7:30 p.m.)
  • Saturday, Jan. 18 at Southern Nazarene (3 p.m.)
  • Thursday, Jan. 23 at Henderson State (7:30 p.m.)
  • Saturday, Jan. 25 at Ouachita Baptist (3 p.m.)
• Next home game is set for Thursday, Jan. 30 vs. Arkansas Tech (7:30 p.m.)