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Bolivar, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist University men's basketball team continued their strong start to the season with an 82-66 victory over Arkansas-Monticello on Saturday evening. With the win, the Bearcats improve to 2-0 on the young season.

The Bearcats and Weevils played a tight opening three minutes of action where UAM held a small 5-4 advantage with 16:54 left in the half. The Bearcats reeled off eight straight points, off of a pair of baskets from Cartier Dean and a three from Brian Patterson, to take a 12-5 lead. The Weevils continued to hang tight, with the Bearcats leading 17-11 with 10:43 to go in the first, but SBU slowly started to build their lead. A jumper from Nate Nahirny with 9:28 left in the half gave SBU their first double-digit lead of the game (22-11), and layup from Andy Campbell with 4:26 left in the half extended the lead to 13 (34-21). UAM went on a small 6-0 run before SBU responded with a run of their own. Over the final three minutes of action in the first half, the Bearcats used a 8-0 run to push their lead to 42-27 heading into the break.

In the second half the Bearcats came out shooting, using a 14-0 run out of intermission to take a commanding 57-26 lead. Combined between the two halves, SBU had a 22-0 run to open the game up. SBU saw buckets from Patterson, Kalehl Brown, and Andy Campbell as part of their run. The Weevils attempted to slowly chip away at the SBU lead, but the Bearcats always responded with timely shots to keep UAM at and arm's length away. The Bearcats would eventually cruise to a 82-66 victory.

Brian Patterson continued his strong start to the season by posting a double-double with 21 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Kai Woodfall was also in double-figures, scoring 11 points, while Logan Hovey pulled down 11 rebounds to go along with 9 points. The Bearcats dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Weevils 52-20. As a team, SBU shot 51.7% from the field, 47.4% from beyond the arc, and 68.8% from the free throw line.

The Bearcats will return to action on Tuesday, November 17 when they host Drury for the Annual Highway 13 'Cat Fight. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. from the Meyer Sports Center in Bolivar.