RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Freddy Lee corralled a pass from Marquis Yates off a missed free throw and rolled up the baseline to sink the game-winning layup with 2.3 seconds as the Arkansas Tech men's basketball team opened its season with a 81-80 victory over a solid Northern State team in the GAC/NSIC Crossover Friday night at Tucker Coliseum.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• A jumper and layup on back-to-back possessions from Yates gave Tech (1-0) its first lead of the game at 4-2 over the Wolves (0-1) just 90 seconds into the game.
• An eight-point run put the guests back up, with that lead stretching to as high as 12 with 14:23 to go in the opening half, before a 15-5 run for the Wonder Boys gave them the lead at 26-25 with 6:45 left before the half.
• That was the last lead Tech would hold until the final seconds of the contest, as NSU jumped back ahead for a five-point lead at the break.
• That advantage momentarily shrunk to three on a Tyrone Haughton free throw just over a minute into the second half, but the Wolves stretched it back to 10 by the first media timeout of the half.
• A Tobe Okafor layup with 14:39 to go cut the lead to 51-45, but the guests would lead by at least eight for the next eight minutes.
• After the lead was pushed to its highest at 66-53 with 8:18 to play, the Wonder Boys hit their stride, as buckets from Thomas Alexander and Lee, a pair of free throws by Nick Wayman and a five-point run by Yates rang up 11 straight points for Tech.
• A Bryson Fletcher lay-in tied the game at 69-all with 4:23 to play, and the hosts took its first lead in nearly 23 minutes on a Jerry Owens freebie.
• Wayman nailed 3-pointers on two straight possessions to tie things up at 74-74 and 77-77 with under three minutes to play, and two free throws out of Lee pulled the Wonder Boys to within one and set the stage for his game-winner.

NOTABLES

• Lee, a redshirt freshman, finished his first game going 5-of-6 from the field, a perfect 3-of-3 from deep and 3-of-4 at the line for 16 points to go with six rebounds and six assists.
• Three other Wonder Boys reached double figures in scoring, with juniors Owens and Yates each going for 13 and junior Thomas Alexander dumping in 14.
• Wayman, a senior, and Yates joined Lee to lead all rebounders with six boards, while Owens added two blocks while controlling the paint.
• The Wonder Boys shot 52.6 percent for the game and 41.7 from 3-point range, including a solid 6-of-11 from deep in the second half.
• Tech won the rebounding game 41-29, scored 36 points in the paint and played 11 different players, helping to pour in 37 points off the bench.

COACH KLINE SAYS

• On the finish – "I'm just excited that we stuck together. I think they had us down double digits a couple different times and we stuck together. We had the ball bounce our way late, but sometimes that's what you have to do is stick around and give yourself a chance."
• On the win building momentum – "You hope so. I thought they were a really good team. It's tough to play a tough team opening night, but somehow we found a way and we'll try to carry it over to tomorrow."
• On learning his players – "That will still be a while, but we played 11 guys tonight, and I thought late in the game we were fresh, so I thought it paid off."

WHO'S NEXT

• The Wonder Boys take on another top team from the Northern Sun in Minnesota State-Moorhead to close out the crossover tournament Saturday at 7 p.m. back at Tucker Coliseum.

-FIGHTON-