Clarksville, Ark.-The Eagles hold sole possession of first place in the American Southwest Conference East Division after a 83-73 win over rival Mississippi College on Saturday.
Ozarks improves to 12-6 overall and 5-1 in the conference and will begin a two-game road trip on Thursday when they play Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana. Thursday’s games are set for 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and can be heard on radio station KXIO 106.9. The Eagles second half shooting proved to be too much for the visiting Choctaws (12-6, 4-2) as Ozarks hit 6-of-7 three-pointers and nailed all 16 of their free throw attempts. After heading into halftime with a 39-35 deficit, the Eagles came out firing from long range and buried four three-pointers in the span of four minutes to open the second half of play. Freshman David Hamilton, making his second consecutive start, nailed one of his three three-pointers at the 18:34 mark of the second half. Ricky Johnson and Reggie Brasfield would add to the three-point barrage with three-pointers of their own minutes later. Brasfield’s basket gave the Eagles a 53-50 lead with 14:26 remaining and the lead for good. Ozarks increased its lead to 58-51 on a Michael Bollman three-pointer at the 13:16 mark. Mississippi College would close the gap to three points, but Bollman’s two inside shots gave Ozarks the final lift it needed in the remaining two minutes of the game. Bollman led Ozarks with 28 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. Bollman also hit 8-of-11 free throws and nailed both of his three-point attempts. Mandrell Howell scored 21 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. Ricky Johnson also scored in double figures with 10 points. Brad Johnson had nine assists and three steals to lead the Eagles.
Topics: Athletics