RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Tyler Corley scored a game-high 26 points, while Andrew Guillory poured in 13, but it was not enough for the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys basketball team (10-9, 5-8 Great American Conference), as Northwestern Oklahoma made the most of 37 trips to the free-throw line, topping the Wonder Boys 86-70 on Saturday afternoon at Tucker Coliseum.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Wonder Boys were strong in the opening minutes of the game, opening up a 10-point (21-11) lead just under eight minutes into the contest.
• The Rangers used an 11-2 run to pull to within one (23-22) with 7:55 to play until half.
• Tech stretched its lead back to nine (37-28) with 3:03 to play in the half.
• Northwestern Oklahoma sandwiched a 22-0 run around halftime – scoring the final nine points of the half to even the score at 37-37 going into the break, and then scoring the first 13 points of the second half to take a 50-37 lead.
• The Rangers pushed ahead by 15 (58-43) with 11:57 to play.
• Tech was able to cut the NWOSU lead to single digits, getting within six (59-53) with 9:11 to play.
• NWOSU pushed back ahead by double digits just one minute later, and did not lead by less than 10 after the 4:39 mark.
• The Rangers' largest lead of the game (18 points) came in the final two minutes of the contest.  

NOTABLES

• Tech outshot NWOSU 55.6 to 49.1 percent.
• The turnover battle was won by NWOSU – Tech committed 21 turnovers to NWOSU's 11.
• Tech held a 31-26 advantage on the rebounding glass.
• Both teams shot lights-out in the second half – Tech shot 57.1 percent to NWOSU's 57.7 percent.
• Points in the paint were even at 36-36.
• NWOSU held a 28-6 advantage in points off turnovers, a 9-0 advantage in second-chance points, a 10-2 advantage in fast-break points, and a 25-18 advantage in bench points.

 
COACH KLINE SAYS

• On NWOSU's run to close the first half and open the second half - "We couldn't get a basket, and I thought we had made some stops and gave up an offensive rebound… the key to the entire game is turnovers. We turned it over 21 times. You're never going to win turning it over 21 times. That was key number one, written on our board – limit turnovers. Obviously it's hard to not ever turn it over, but you try to keep it in single digits."
• On the play of NWOSU's T'aries Taylor – "He's a good player for sure. He'll definitely be defensive player of the year. We've seen it on film, he's very good defensively. Another key is that we fouled today… nothing against the officiating, it was fine. We were out there fouling. They made six more free throws than we attempted. That's a recipe for disaster."

WHO'S NEXT

• The Wonder Boys will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 4, heading west for a conference tilt with Oklahoma Baptist. A 7:30 p.m. tip is scheduled.