The University of the Ozarks men’s basketball team survived a late rally by Sul Ross State University to earn a 75-70 victory over the Lobos on Monday night in American Southwest Conference play.
Ozarks (3-2, 2-0) led by as many as 20 points late in the second half before the Lobos (0-3, 0-1) stormed back to cut the deficit to 71-66 with 2:14 remaining. A three-pointer by Jeremy Clark gave the Eagles a 70-50 advantage with only 5:59 to play, but Sul Ross State went on a 16-1 run over the next four minutes to put a scare into the home team. However, the Eagles closed out the contest with a Habeeb Kareem layup with :23 seconds left and a Tony Daniels free throw with :09 seconds left.
The Lobos held just one lead the entire contest, which came at the 17:56 mark of the first half. Ozarks then controlled the tempo, and dominated the boards by holding a 26-12 margin in the first twenty minutes of action. The largest advantage of the half came when Ted Beard made the score 12-5 after nailing a three-pointer at the 13:47 mark, and when Clark hit a layup at the buzzer to end first half play at 32-25.
Ozarks finished with a 41-25 edge in the rebounding department.
Kareem led the team with 17 points. Beard followed with 16 points and Clint McHenry rounded out with 11 points. Kareem had 11 rebounds.
Ozarks will travel to Kerrville, Texas, to face Schreiner University on November 30 and Seguin, Texas, to face Texas Lutheran University on December 2.