RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The seventh-seeded Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys (15-13, 10-12 Great American Conference) will face the No. 2 seed East Central (21-7, 17-5 GAC) in the first round of the GAC Tournament on Thursday, March 3 at the Bruin Fieldhouse in Bartlesville, Okla. with a slated 2:15 p.m. tipoff.
 
TOURNAMENT SETUP
If the Wonder Boys win their first round game, they would face the winner of the No. 3 Ouachita Baptist/No. 6 Southern Nazarene game in the semifinals on Saturday, March 5 with a 12 p.m. tipoff.
 
THE MATCHUP
The Wonder Boys and Tigers will play each other for the second time in five days. Tech finished the season with an 83-66 home loss to East Central on Feb. 27. The Tigers also won the previous matchup with a come-from-behind 86-76 second half victory over the Wonder Boys. However, Arkansas Tech leads the all-time series 14-12 over East Central, including a win over the Tigers in last year's GAC Tournament.
 
GAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Arkansas Tech will be seeking their third GAC Tournament Championship in the five-year existence of the league. The Wonder Boys won the GAC Tournament in 2015 with an 80-77 win over second-seeded East Central in the championship game to advance to the NCAA Division II Central Regional Tournament. Tech also won the first ever GAC Tournament Championship back in 2011 as the Wonder Boys defeated Southwestern Oklahoma 69-58 to advance to the NCAA Division II South Regional.
 
PLAYERS TO WATCH

• Heading into the GAC Tournament, the backcourt duo of Tyler Corley and Andrew Guillory has spearheaded the Wonder Boys offense. In the last 14 games, Corley or Guillory have led the Wonder Boys in scoring in 13 of the 14 games and average a combined 27 points per game on the season.
• While the backcourt has some strong senior leadership in Guillory and Bryson Fletcher, freshman point guard Freddy Lee has provided a strong spark off the bench the last half of the season. Lee is tied for the team-lead in three-pointers made (43), leads the team in three-point percentage (.384), free throw percentage (.800), assists (81), and assist/turnover ratio (2.9/1).
• Senior forward DeChriston McKinney has played a larger role on the Wonder Boys team the last two weeks. McKinney has recorded double-digit rebounds in three of the last four games, including two double-doubles against Henderson State and Arkansas-Monticello in that stretch.

 
THE BROADCAST
All Tech basketball games will be carried live on KCJC-FM (102.3) in Russellville, with Sam Strasner calling the play-by-play and Kelly Davis providing color analysis. Live audio, video, and statistics are available at www.arkansastechsports.com.