Arkansas 71, West Virginia 64

Sunday, November 26th 2006, 10:01 pm

By: News On 6

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) Sonny Weems scored 19 points and Charles Thomas added 13, helping Arkansas to a 71-64 victory over West Virginia on Sunday night in the championship game of the Old Spice Classic at Disney World.

Vincent Hunter gave Arkansas (5-0) a 16-point advantage on a layup and free throw with 5:34 left in the game, but West Virginia (5-1) climbed to within 4 on a 3-pointer by DaSean Butler with 47 seconds to go.

Darris Nichols had 15 points and Joe Alexander finished with 14 to pace West Virginia. Teammates Alex Ruoff and Frank Young scored 12 and 10, respectively.

Gary Ervin scored all of his 8 points in the 1st half and Weems, the only player to score more than 14 points against the Mountaineers this season, chipped in 9 to lead the Razorbacks to a 35-28 lead at the break.

Weems and Patrick Beverley, who contributed 7 points and 5 steals, were named to the inaugural all-tournament team.

Nichols and Young represented the Mountaineers on the squad. Jared Jordan of Marist was named the most outstanding player in the eight-team event.

Steven Hill blocked a pair of shots for Arkansas to finish with a record 9 in three tournament games.