RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Marquis Yates and Andrew Guillory both turned in team-best 15-point performances, while Freddy Lee (14 points), Tyler Corley (11 points), and Jerry Owens (10 points) all reached double figures, but the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys basketball team (9-6, 4-5) was unable to overcome the hot shooting of the Harding Bisons (8-6, 7-2 GAC), falling 102-83 on Monday night at Tucker Coliseum.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The two teams had six ties and five lead changes in the opening 20 minutes of play.
• The Wonder Boys led by as many as nine (44-35) with 5:20 to play in the half, but Harding closed the half on a 19-5 run to go into the break with a five-point (54-49) lead.
• Tech cut Harding's lead to one (58-57) with 16:56 to play, but Harding answered with six straight points to claim a seven-point (64-57) lead with 16:17 remaining.
• Harding pushed its lead into double figures with just under 10 minutes to play. The Wonder Boys would twice cut the Bisons' lead to seven within the final seven minutes, but Harding was able to stretch its lead back into double figures. The 19-point margin was Harding's largest lead of the game.

NOTABLES

• The two teams shot the lights out in the opening half, with Harding shooting 56.3 percent and Tech shooting 55.6 percent.  
• Harding shot 76.5 percent (13-of-17) from long range in the first half, while Tech shot 37.5 percent from beyond the arc.
• The Wonder Boys outscored Harding 24-8 in the paint and 12-2 on fast breaks in the opening half.
• Both teams shot over 50 percent for the contest – Harding's 56.7 percent outpaced Tech's 51.6 percent, but the Bisons were bolstered by a 61.3 percent clip from long-range. After shooting 76.5 percent from beyond the arc in the opening half, Harding cooled slightly in the second half, connecting on a 42.9 percent clip in the second half.
• Rebounds were equal at 34-34.
• Harding had assists on 25 of 38 baskets.

COACH KLINE SAYS

• On Harding's clutch shooting - "19 threes is hard to overcome. It was a tough night for sure. It seemed like whenever we'd get a stop, they'd get an offensive rebound. I don't know why but I felt terrible coming out of the locker room. They were 13 for 17 from the three in the first half, which is unheard of, and we were down five points. So I felt good about that. But we are in a rut, and we've got to figure it out soon."
• On running into some hot 3-point shooting teams – "Shooting is contagious. When you have a missed assignment a couple times and you leave them open for three and the shooters see it go in, then they start making contested ones. I think we saw that tonight."

WHO'S NEXT

• The Wonder Boys return to action Thursday, Jan. 21 to face off against Henderson State in Arkadelphia. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.