RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — The Arkansas Tech men's basketball team went back-and-forth with Great American Conference challenger Southeastern Oklahoma throughout the first half, but the Wonder Boys shooting went cold in the second half as the Savage Storm pulled away for a 74-63 victory Thursday night at Tucker Coliseum.

Mike Balogun led Tech (8-8, 4-4 GAC) with 20 points, while Tyler Friedel went 5-of-9 from 3-point range to tally 17. Jay Murphy put up eight points to go with four rebounds, three assists and two steals, with Clarence Willard collecting seven rebounds and four assists along with his five points.

Three-pointers from Friedel and Balogun in the first 1:10 staked the Wonder Boys to a pair of three-point leads early, and after back-to-back buckets from Southeastern (8-8, 4-4 GAC) to take its first lead at the 18:11 mark, neither side scored two in a row again for six minutes. The Storm pushed out to an eight-point lead at 23-15, but a pair of Darrick Little buckets bookended a 9-0 run for the hosts to go back up by one with 5:50 left in the half. Southeastern picked up 10 straight points from Danny Powell — who put up a game-high 26 points — though, as it pushed back ahead 39-34 by the break.

The Storm would increase that lead early in the second half, as Tech started the frame 0-for-5 from the field, letting the guests jump on a 10-2 run to increase the lead to 13 with 16:44 to play. The lead would hang around there, with the Wonder Boys getting as close as down eight with 15:07 on the clock and Southeastern going up by as much as 16 at 64-48 with 9:13 left to play. Tech pulled the deficit back to single digits again as Murphy sank three free throws with 4:26 left, and two more freebies from Branden Williams made it 68-61 at the 2:17 mark, but the Storm hit four of its own to keep the Wonder Boys at bay.

"When you shoot 24 percent in the second half, it's going to be hard to come away with a victory," Arkansas Tech coach Chad Kline said. "Give them a lot of credit. They're good. I knew they were a lot better than what their record was. They've been playing a lot better as of late, for sure. We just didn't have an answer."

Tech shot just 7-of-29 in the second half, and got outrebounded 39-26 for the game.

The Wonder Boys take to the court against Saturday against Great American Conference foe East Central for a 3:30 tip at Tucker Coliseum.