Nov. 24, 2006
Final Stats
ORLANDO, Fla.-Patrick Beverly had 15 points and Sonny Weems posted a double-double of 12 points, 13 rebounds to lead the Arkansas men's basketball team to a 73-64 victory Friday in the semifinals of the Old Spice Classic. Arkansas improved to 4-0 with the victory, while Marist dropped to 3-2. The Red Foxes will now play the loser of Friday's Western Michigan-West Virginia contest at 5:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2 in the tournament's third place game.
Marist is now 0-4 all-time against teams from the SEC. The Red Foxes have also fallen to Georgia and LSU twice.
Marist senior point guard Jared Jordan (Hartford, Conn.) finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, finishing with team-highs in each category. Jordan led the nation last season in assists with 8.5 per game. Marist senior center James Smith (Nyack, N.Y.) continued his improved play this season with 18 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Senior guard Will Whittington (Kingwood, Tx.) also had 10 points and a career-high four steals.
Gary Ervin also had double figures for Arkansas with 13 points, while Beverly led the Razorbacks with five assists and four steals.
The Red Foxes shot out to a 6-0 lead early in the first half, but quickly surrendered a 10-0 run over the next five minutes, 37 seconds to fall behind by four. After that, the teams battled in a seesaw affair over the balance of the half. The Razorbacks took a 22-19 lead into the locker room on a 3-pointer by Stefan Welsh.
Marist was led by seven points from Jordan at the half, while redshirt junior forward Ryan Stilphen (Bay Village, Ohio) had six rebounds.
Arkansas was led by six points apiece from Weems and Stefan Welsh in the first half. Weems also had eight rebounds.
Marist shot 32 percent in the first half (8-25), while Arkansas tossed in 9-32 for 28.1 percent. Marist hit three of its 11 3-point attempts (27.3 percent), while the Razorbacks made the same amount and percentage.
It looked like the Red Foxes would be able to hang with Arkansas in the second half when Whittington knotted the affair at 35-all with a 3-pointer at the 13:21 mark. However, Arkansas kept Marist at bay during the rest of the half, going up by as much as 12 (70-58) with 26 seconds left on a free throw by Ervin.
Marist actually outshot Arkansas, making 42.3 percent (22-52) of its field goals, to Arkansas' 41.4 percent (24-58). The Red Foxes made 33.3 percent of their 3-point attempts (8-24), while the Razorbacks made nine of 25 attempts (36.0 percent). Arkansas also held the edge at the line, making 16 of 20 attempts (80 percent), while Marist made just 66.7 percent (12-18).
---GoRedFoxes.com---
