MELBOURNE, Fla. – Despite a 16-point halftime lead, the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys had to fight back from a six-point second half deficit to defeat Florida Tech 74-73 at the Winter Classic hosted by Florida Tech in Melbourne, Fla. Saturday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Wonder Boys (7-2) opened up the game on fire from behind the arc. Tech jumped out to an 18-7 lead over Florida Tech (9-3)  with 13:01 to go in the first half. Bryson Fletcher knocked down a pair of three-pointers and the Wonder Boys converted on 4-of-6 three-pointers during the run.
• The Panthers managed to cut into the Arkansas Tech lead, rallying to make it a 26-18 game with 7:20 to go in the first half. However, the Wonder Boys had the answer by going on a 9-3 run of their own. Marquis Yates scored seven of the nine points for Tech during the run on a three-pointer, a fast break layup and a fast break dunk to take a 35-21 lead with 5:02 to go until halftime.
• Florida Tech had an opportunity to try to cut into the Wonder Boys lead on their final possession, but Tobe Okafor recorded a big block in the lane with 20 seconds remaining to give Arkansas Tech a 43-27 lead going into halftime.
• The Panthers rallied back in a big way to start out the second half. Through the first 10 minutes of the second half, Florida Tech outscored the Wonder Boys 26-10 to tie the game up at 53 with 9:53 to go and took their first lead of the game at 55-53 with 9:11 left in the ball game.
• Florida Tech stretched the lead to as much as six at 61-55 with 7:07 remaining; however, DeChriston McKinney helped Arkansas Tech fight back with a 7-2 run to cut the Wonder Boys deficit to 63-62 with 4:42 remaining. McKinney scored all seven points during the run on a pair of buckets in the paint and converting on 3-of-4 free throw attempts.
• The Panthers never led by more than three points the rest of the way and with 2:09 left, Fletcher came away with a big defensive rebound and ran the length of the floor for a fast break layup to tie the game up at 68.
• In the final two minutes, junior point guard Tyler Corley was aggressive at getting to the free throw line. Corley knocked down a pair of free throws with 1:22 remaining to give the Wonder Boys the lead back at 70-68. After Florida Tech tied the game on the following possession, Corley got to the free throw line yet again, knocking down two more free throws to give Arkansas Tech the lead once more at 72-70 with 55 seconds remaining.
• The Panthers had two opportunities to tie the game back up, but Okafor recorded another big block in the lane to get the ball back to the Wonder Boys. After Arkansas Tech turned over the basketball, Florida Tech had one last chance, but Nick Wayman came away with the defensive board with six seconds remaining.
• Andrew Guillory was fouled with three seconds left and knocked down a pair of free throws to give the Wonder Boys a 74-70 lead. The Panthers made a three-point shot at the buzzer and Arkansas Tech came away with the 74-73 victory.

NOTABLES

• Arkansas Tech had four players score in double-figures for the game. Corley led the Wonder Boys with 17 points off the bench, shooting 6-of-12 from the field and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. McKinney recorded his second double-double of the season with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field with 12 rebounds. Yates finished the game with 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting, going 2-for-4 from behind the arc and Fletcher scored a season-high 10 points on 4-of-6 from the field and 2-of-3 from the three-point arc.
• The Wonder Boys had another monster day on the glass, outrebounding the Panthers 52-32 for the game. McKinney's 12 boards led Arkansas Tech with Wayman also reaching double-figure rebounds with 10.
• Okafor made his presence known in the lane, recording a career-high six blocked shots. Okafor came into the game with six blocks through the first eight games of the season.
• On the offensive end, the Wonder Boys shot 44-percent (27-of-61) from the field, 44-percent from behind the arc (8-of-18), and converted on 75-percent (12-of-16) on their foul shots. ATU did most of their damage from the line in the second half, converting on 83-percent (10-of-12) from the free throw line.
• The Wonder Boys stymied the Panthers on the defensive end. Arkansas Tech held Florida Tech to just 35-percent shooting (24-of-69) from the floor and 7-of-21 (33-percent) from the three-point arc.
• The 73 points scored by the Panthers was their second lowest point total of the season and the fewest points they've scored in a loss this season. Coming into the game, the Panthers were 35th in the nation in scoring offense at 87.8 ppg and had scored over 90 points in four consecutive games leading up to the matchup with the Wonder Boys.
• Since starting the season 1-2, Arkansas Tech has rallied to win six straight games.

WHO'S NEXT
Arkansas Tech will return to the court after Christmas break and will face off against the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma on Jan. 2 at 3 p.m. in Tucker Coliseum for its first game of 2016.