Monticello, Ark. - The Southwest Baptist University men's basketball team hung close with Arkansas-Monticello throughout most of the game, but the Bearcats dropped the contest 71-79.

Arkansas-Monticello jumped out of the gates early, leading by as many as 11 in the first half before SBU would start to trim away at their lead, going into halftime down 39-34. The Bearcats came out strong in the second half, quickly making up the deficit, and taking a 45-43 lead. However Arkansas-Monticello would take the lead back, and lead by as many as 20 in the second half, before holding off a Bearcat surge as SBU lost the contest 71-79.

Rashaad Brown-Peterson gave SBU a team high 16 points off of 6-8 shooting from the bench, while Ricky Odige had a season high 13 points and Gilbert Gyamfi added 12 in the loss. As a team SBU shot 34.3% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc.

The Bearcats will take a break from play for the remainder of 2012 before picking back up in MIAA play when they travel to Central Missouri on Wednesday, January 2. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. from Warrensburg, Missouri.