By Brian Ramsey
OBU Sports Information

ARKADELPHIA — Ecclesia College gave the Ouachita Baptist University men’s basketball team a good fight on Friday night at Bill Vining Arena, but a late surge lifted the Tigers to their first win of the season with a final margin of 83-59.

The Tigers (1-2) used a 21-3 run in the final six minutes for the lop-sided victory. The Royals (5-4) had kept the game close up until that point, with the exception of a 10-1 earlier in the second half to put Ouachita up by 14 with 11:09 remaining.

Jacob Street and Kendarious Smith led Ouachita in scoring with 17 points each. Street had a game-high five three-pointers in the win. Leon Kalinic added 10 points and five rebounds. Tylar Haynes chipped in with 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench.

The Tigers shot 46 percent from the field compared to Ecclesia at 39 percent. The Royals were led by Jaquan Dotson, who scored a game-high 19 points.

Ouachita is back in action next weekend at the Texas A&M-Commerce Hoopsgiving Tournament, taking on UT-Tyler on Friday, November 26 and the host, A&M-Commerce on Saturday.