RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Marquis Yates turned in a 21-point effort, while Jerry Owens added 14 points and both Tyler Corley and Freddy Lee added 10 points, but the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys basketball team (9-5, 4-4 Great American Conference) was unable to overcome a late rally by Southern Arkansas (8-6, 5-3 GAC), falling 83-80 to the Muleriders on Saturday afternoon at Tucker Coliseum.  
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Southern Arkansas controlled the opening seven minutes of the game, opening up a 12-point (25-13) lead with 12:58 to play in the opening half.
• A 9-0 run by the Wonder Boys brought Tech to within 25-21 with 10:20 to play in the half.
• A Yates jumper with 2:18 to go in the half gave Tech its first lead (40-38) since leading 7-5 early in the game.
• The Wonder Boys held the advantage through the remainder of the half, taking a 46-43 halftime lead.
• Tech controlled the opening minutes of the second half, leading by as many as nine (58-49) with 13:32 to play.
• Southern Arkansas used a 13-2 run to reclaim the lead with 8:36 to play.
• The Muleriders would hold a thin lead down the stretch – leading by between one and three points over the next five minutes.
• SAU's Jaron Davis hit a bucket with 3:07 to play to give the Muleriders a three-point lead (74-71), and after a Tech turnover the SAU lead was stretched to five after Davis hit a pair of free throws.
• SAU led by as many as seven (82-75) in the final minute, before a layup at the buzzer by Mason Cline brought Tech back within three (83-80).

NOTABLES

• Tech outshot SAU 45.8 to 45.2 percent from the floor and held a 38-37 rebounding advantage.
• Both teams connected on eight shots from 3-point range.
• Tech committed 15 turnovers while SAU committed 10.
• The Wonder Boys shot 60.7 percent in the opening half, falling to 32.3 percent in the second half. Southern Arkansas had a similar statistic, shooting 53.6 percent in the first half and 38.2 percent in the second.
• SAU connected on all eight of its 3-pointers in the first half going 8-for-12 from beyond the arc, while going 0-for-6 in the second half.

COACH KLINE SAYS

• On late turnovers - "I haven't seen the final stat sheet but I thought we turned the ball over at crucial times. There's no excuse for the loose-ball turnovers. They out-toughed us. They're a tough and talented team. It was a tough night for sure. We had an eight-point lead in the second half and we let them claw back into the game."
• On his team's performance - "Offensively tonight, when we moved the ball and got to the rim we were pretty good. It seemed like we took some forced shots, some ill-advised shots."
• On bench players stepping up – "I think everyone we put in the game did something positive. We are a fairly deep team and that's what we expect. Anyone that wears a Tech jersey is expected to come in and play hard. I am proud of those guys – they came ready to play."

WHO'S NEXT

• The Wonder Boys return to action Monday, Jan. 18 to face off against Harding University at Tucker Coliseum. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.