RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - On a tough offensive night for the Wonder Boys, Marquis Yates came up big with a big 23-point performance and Freddy Lee knocked down a huge three-pointer late in the contest to help Arkansas Tech pull away with a 66-53 victory over Southern Nazarene Saturday afternoon in Tucker Coliseum.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Wonder Boys got off to a slow start defensively as the Crimson Storm jumped out to a 10-6 lead after the first media timeout by converting on 4-of-8 shots from the field while the Wonder Boys committed four turnovers during that stretch.
• After SNU tied the game up at 14 with 11:06 to go in the half, the Wonder Boys went on a 10-0 run sparked by a pair of Yates buckets and finished off by two DeChriston McKinney layups to jump up 24-14 on the Crimson Storm.
• Southern Nazarene had an opportunity to cut into the Tech lead with the last possession of the first half, but Tobe Okafor came up with a huge block at the rim as time expired to help the Wonder Boys go into the locker room with a 32-23 lead.
• Tech opened up the second half by going on an 11-0 run fueled by huge Okafor dunk sandwiched between a Bryson Fletcher three-pointer and fast break layup off an Andrew Guillory steal. Guillory capped the run with a jumper at the 16:37 mark to give the Wonder Boys the 43-24 lead.
• The ATU offense hit a cold stretch following the Guillory bucket, as Southern Nazarene would outscore the Wonder Boys 23-6 over the next nine minutes to cut the Tech lead to 49-47 following a couple of free throws with 7:46 to go.
• With the Wonder Boys leading 55-51 with 3:24 to go, Lee came up with one of the biggest buckets of the game as he knocked down a three pointer from the right wing to stretch the Tech lead 58-51.
• Lee came up with another big play with 1:29 to go. With the shot clock winding down, he drove and dished to Okafor who slammed home a big bucket to stretch the ATU lead back to 60-53.
• In the final 1:29, the Wonder Boys got three big defensive stops and both Lee and Yates combined to go 6-for-6 from the free throw line to ice the game.

NOTABLES

• Yates and Thomas Alexander combined to score 36 of the Wonder Boys' 66 points. Yates scored 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Alexander was the only other Wonder Boy in double-figures with 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting and 4-of-6 from the charity stripe.
• Lee finished the game with seven points, but all seven points came in the final 3:30 of the second half.
• Tech held the Crimson Storm to just 25-percent shooting (17-of-68) and 17-percent from the three-point arc (5-of-30).
• The Wonder Boys bench played a major role in the game, outscoring the Southern Nazarene bench 30-15 in the contest.
• The 53 points allowed by the Tech defense is the fewest points allowed by the Wonder Boys in a GAC game since a 56-51 win over Southwestern Oklahoma State in the GAC Tournament on March 30, 2013.

WHO'S NEXT

• The Wonder Boys will head to Nacogdoches, Texas next Saturday to take on Division I Stephen F. Austin in exhibition play for a 6 p.m. tipoff. 

-FIGHTON-