ADA, Okla. – Marquis Yates turned in a 26-point performance, while Tyler Corley came off the bench to add 18 points but the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys basketball team (9-3, 4-2 Great American Conference) was unable to overcome a second-half rebounding surge by East Central (8-4, 4-2 GAC), falling 86-76 to the Tigers on Saturday at the Kerr Activities Center.   

NEXT UP

• The Wonder Boys travel to Arkadelphia, Ark. to face off against Ouachita Baptist on Thursday, Jan. 14 at 7:30 p.m.  

HOW IT HAPPENED

• There were five ties and eleven lead changes in a back-and-forth first half.
• A jumper by Yates at the 7:31 mark of the first half tied the game for Tech, and started a 11-0 run for the Wonder Boys, who would not trail again during the opening half.
• ECU narrowed the Tech lead to three (42-39) with 1:07 to play on a Donovan Halsel 3-pointer, but Yates buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send Tech into the half with a 45-39 lead.
• The second half saw ECU open on an 8-2 run to knot the game at 47-47 with 17:33 to play. Neither team scored again until the 15:07 mark when Stirling Thomas gave the Tigers a two-point lead with a layup.
• The two teams traded baskets over the next few minutes, with Tech retying the game at 51-51 with 14:20 to play.
• A 3-pointer by Dalen Qualls with 9:56 to play gave ECU a lead (59-58) that it would stretch out to nine (72-61) with 5:23 to play.
• ECU took its lead into double digits (75-64) with 3:27 to play on a dunk by Ishmael Donzo.   

NOTABLES

• The loss snaps an eight-game win streak for the Wonder Boys.
• After Tech outrebounded ECU 19-8 in the opening half, the Tigers outrebounded the Wonder Boys 26-14 in the second half.
• Points in the paint were even at 34-34, Tech had a 17-11 advantage in points off turnovers and a 16-6 advantage in second-chance points.

COACH KLINE SAYS

• On the final eight minutes of the game – "I felt like we gave up some offensive rebounds. I don't think they scored on the first shot a lot. We are normally pretty good on the glass, and tonight we gave second opportunities. It seemed like we were atrocious from the free-throw line in the second half. They're too good. You have to play close to a perfect game here, and we didn't do it."
• His overall feelings on the game – "I don't feel like we played an awful game. You have to give (ECU) a lot of credit. I knew after they got beat (Thursday) they'd come out here like this was a must-win situation."
• On the upcoming game against Ouachita Baptist – "They won the league last year and have the player of the year back. It'll probably be a harder game, realistically, than today. They'll have their students back for a Thursday game. It seems like the last five years we've struggled over there. (Dennis Nutt) is a good coach. We have to figure out how to win one Thursday and then get back into the friendly confines of Tucker Coliseum."