PINE BLUFF, AR – In their last non-conference game in the Lion’s Den at H.O. Clemmons Arena, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff men’s basketball team came out victorious over Ecclesia College with a final score of 97-56 Saturday evening.
Winning is always the goal for Arkansas-Pine Bluff, but things became fun when everybody got involved in the scorebook.
Leading all scorers was Dequan Morris with an athletic 23 points, shooting a solid 60 percent from the field and adding two boards and four steals in the victory.
Leading scorer Shawn Williams finished the ballgame with 15 points and added three assists.
Kylen Milton added 14 points, going 7-7 from the free-throw line, and added three rebounds and three assists.
The “King of the Jungle,” Brandon Brown, put 13 additional points on the board for the Golden Lions, shooting 57 percent from the field and snatched eight boards along with four steals.
From the jump, the Golden Lions would start their day off at the free-throw line to get a quick feel for the rim and to see a few shots sink before they got things to running and gunning. Morris, the glue, as UAPB head coach Solomon Bozeman would call him, scored a quick six points with two layups and a pair of free throws to get a momentum boost for Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
“He changes the environment on the floor for us because he’s so athletic,” said Bozeman about Morris’ presence on the floor for the Golden Lions.
At the 13-minute mark, Morris stole the ball for a breakaway one-handed jam above the rim to open a five-possession scoring run for the Golden Lions to open the scoring gap over Ecclesia 24-9 halfway through the first half.
The Golden Lions scored 18 of their 47 first-half points at the free-throw line, as they ended the first half with a 21-point lead over the Royals, 47-26.
The Golden Lions came out a tad bit sluggish in the second half, allowing three Ecclesia buckets, but those three shots only put UAPB in attack mode with Vargas pulling up for a two-point bucket and Williams reaching in his bag and exercising his deep-range three-point shooting on back-to-back plays both assists going to Vargas.
Vargas, a crafty freshman, showed how well he could distribute the ball for Arkansas-Pine Bluff. After his back-to-back assists to Williams, Brown gave Vargas an outlet pass off a rebound and found AJ Stredic spot on in the pocket, resulting in a Stredic and-one and another assist to Vargas’ stat line.
“The work he’s been putting in is coming out,” said Bozeman about the freshman guard and his growth. “He’s going to be one of the top point guards in this conference.”
The plays then reversed as Williams would gain his third assist for a Vargas three-pointer to open the point spread to 30 over Ecclesia, with everyone with a white UAPB jersey getting involved to secure their second victory of the season over Ecclesia College 97-56.
“With conference around the corner, our goal is to keep improving and get better, but we’re going to enjoy this win for now,” said Bozeman about the win over Ecclesia on his birthday.
UAPB men’s basketball will return to the hardwood after the break on January 3rd at H.O. Clemmons Arena to kick off conference play against Alabama A&M at 5:30 p.m.
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