Eagles get physical on boards, punish Jarvis in paint for big win

The A&M-Texarkana men's basketball team built a big lead in Saturday's first half and rode that momentum to a much-needed conference win over Jarvis Christian at the Patterson Center. The Eagles (5-9, 3-5 RRAC) hit 53 percent of their shots in the first half on the way to a 13-point lead at the break, then held off Jarvis Christian to win by the same margin, 84-71.

Levelle Zeigler pumped in 22 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and dished out six assists to lead the Eagles, who had lost six of seven before Saturday. Justin Brown gave the team a huge spark off the bench, also scoring 22 points (including five 3-pointers) with three rebounds and three assists. Jeff Norment added 11 points and Christopher Coley had eight points and 10 rebounds.

The Eagles hammered Jarvis Christian on the glass, outrebounding the Bulldogs by a 42-25 margin and outscored the visitors 34-12 in the paint. The Eagles never trailed, led by as many as 20 points (13:29 in the second half) and got 34 points from the bench.

Jarvis Christian's James Phillip Russell scored a game-high 28 points but needed 24 shot attempts (10-of-24) to reach that total. Erin Wright added 14 for the Bulldogs but only hit 4-of-13 shots. The rest of the team combined for just 29 points.

TAMUT will host two more games this week to wrap up a four-game homestand. The Eagles face North American (6-9, 5-4) on Thursday at 7:30 pm, before ending the week Saturday at 4 pm against Xavier (10-3, 6-2).