The Arkansas Razorbacks are off to a fast start early in Southeastern Conference play joining Tennessee, Florida and Mississippi State as the only 2-0 teams left in league play thanks to a 71-67 overtime win over the Alabama Crimson Tide (11-6, 0-2 ) Sunday at Bud Walton Arena. Darian Townes came of the bench to score 18 points, leading four Hogs in double figures. Sonny Weems added 17, Charles Thomas 13 and Gary Ervin 12. The Razorbacks (13-3, 2-0 ) led by as many as 12 points in the contest, but as foul problems and fatigue began to grow, the Hogs’ lead dwindled. Pine Bluff native Mykal Riley tied the game at 60-all with a 3-pointer with: 18. 7 remaining in regulation, but Ervin scored 7 of his dozen points in overtime to secure the victory.

PLAYS OF THE GAME Gary Ervin stemmed the Crimson Tide twice in overtime when the Razorbacks needed it most. With 1: 29 left in overtime and the Hogs’ trailing 64-62, the senior from the Brooklyn, N. Y. hit a huge 3-pointer with from the right wing to give the Hogs a 65-64 lead. On the next trip down the floor Ervin drove the lane, drew a foul and made the layup to give the Hogs a 68-64 lead with: 54. 6 remaining. The Hogs would not have won without Ervin’s clutch play. Patrick Beverley picked up his fourth foul with 15: 08 left in the game and sat until the 4: 17 mark. Arkansas coach John Pelphrey inserted him into the game to help stop the bleeding after Alabama shaved five points off the Hogs’ lead with three inside buckets. The sophomore from Chicago promptly knocked down a 3-pointer from the right corner to give Arkansas a 59-56 lead. With 14: 52 remaining in the first half, Darian Townes worked himself in front of an Alabama entry pass intended for Richard Hendrix for a steal. His quick outlet pass to Patrick Beverley set up a 3-pointer for Sonny Weems on the secondary break. Weems ’ trey gave the Hogs an early, 11-5 lead.

PLAYER OF THE GAME While Gary Ervin made the plays of the game to pull the Hogs’ fat out of the fire in the overtime period, hard-working Charles Thomas is the player of the game against Bama, The 6-7 senior is the heart and soul of the Razorbacks, setting the tone with his blue-collar effort. Against Alabama’s formidable front line of Richard Hendrix and Demetrius Jemison, Thomas grabbed 10 rebounds and scored 13 points to record his second doubledouble of the season. He also made 2 steals. Thomas joined the Razorbacks ’ 1, 000-point club Sunday. He now has 1, 003 career points and 518 rebounds. CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD Big men beware. Pound for pound and inch for inch, Patrick Beverley may be the best rebounder in the SEC. He went into the Alabama game as the Razorbacks ’ third-leading rebounder with 5. 4 boards a game, but the Hogs’ 6-1, little-big man tracked down a game-high 13 rebounds Sunday even though he sat out 10 minutes of the second half with foul problems. He grabbed two more rebounds than the SEC leader in the category, Alabama’s Richard Hendrix, who had 11. STAT OF THE GAME Going into the game, the Razorbacks had been holding opponents to a solid 40. 9 percent shooting from the field, but the Hogs managed to top that Sunday. The Crimson Tide managed to make just 24 of 68 shots from the field against the Hogs for 35. 3 percent. It’s a good thing Arkansas did hold the Tide at bay because the Razorbacks shot just 37. 3 percent from the field themselves, 10. 7 percentage points off their normal 48 percent average. Here’s another interesting stat. The Hogs are 11-0 when leading at halftime.

UP NEXT The Razorbacks are back at home at 7: 05 p. m. Wednesday with a nontelevised game against the South Carolina Gamecocks. Dave Odom’s squad is off to a slow start at 0-2 in SEC play and 8-8 overall, but South Carolina perhaps had the toughest two opening games in the league, drawing No. 13 Vanderbilt last Wednesday and No. 8 Tennessee last Saturday. The Commodores defeated South Carolina, 80-73, at Nashville, while the Vols routed the Gamecocks, 80-56, at Columbia, S. C.