RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – RJ Glasper turned in a career-high 37-point performance, Montrell Williams scored 17 and Jerami Grace scored 16 points off the bench, as the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys basketball team (18-10, 12-10 Great American Conference) held on to win an 88-73 over Arkansas-Monticello (17-11, 12-10) on Saturday afternoon at Tucker Coliseum.
 
NEXT UP
The Wonder Boys open play at the 2018 Great American Conference championship tournament as the No. 5 seed, facing the No. 4 seed Southeastern Oklahoma at noon on Friday, March 2.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• UAM controlled the opening minutes of the contest, opening up a six-point (16-10) advantage on a Karim Mawuenyega 3-pointer with 13:47 to play.
• The Weevils built a nine-point advantage (23-14) after a 7-4 run.
• Tech trimmed the UAM lead to four points (23-19) after Brown drove through the lane and hammered down a thunderous dunk. The Weevils were quick to answer, going on a 6-0 run to push their lead ten (29-19) with 7:02 remaining in the first half.
• The Wonder Boys cut the UAM lead to five points (31-26) after Glasper converted on a 3-point play and Freddy Lee hit a contested layup. 
• The Weevils pushed their lead back to nine (35-26), Tech responded with a 9-2 run, highlighted by two Glasper 3-pointers to trim the lead to three points (37-34) at the end of the first half.
• Monticello out rebounded Tech 26-18 in the first half and scored 22 of their 37 first half points in the paint.
• UAM scored the first four points of the second half to push its lead to seven points (41-34), Tech scored the next seven points, capped by a Williams 3-point play to knot the score up at 41-41. The Wonder Boys took their first lead of the game (43-42) after Glasper hit a layup at the 17:09 minute mark.
• Over the next five minutes neither team gained a significant advantage as there were eight lead changes and three ties. Tech held a 57-55 lead at the under 12-media timeout.
• The Wonder Boys built a ten point lead after Jerami Grace drilled a 3-pointer and Williams converted a steal into a breakaway dunk to put the score at 67-57 with 9:17 remaining in the second half.
• After Monticello narrowed the deficit to seven (69-62) with 7:44 to play, Tech once again stretched the lead to double figures after a Glasper 3-pointer (72-62).
• A 3-point play by Glasper at the 3:22 mark gave the Wonder Boys a 17-point (84-67) advantage, its largest lead of the night to that point.
• UAM slowly narrowed the gap, pulling to within 15 (86-71) on a Tyrin Jones layup with 2:03 to play.
• Stephon Gordon hit a layup for the Weevils as time expired, putting the final score at 88-73.

 
NOTABLES

• With the win, Tech clinched the No. 5 seed in the upcoming Great American Conference championship tournament in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
• Glasper scored a new career-high 37 points, dished out eight assists and grabbed four rebounds. Williams joined Glasper in double-digit scoring with 17 points and added seven rebounds.
• Grace came off the bench and scored 16 points and grabbed three rebounds. Grace was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from behind arc.
• The Wonder Boys out shot UAM 50.8 to 45.8 percent.
• UAM out rebounded Tech 34-30.
• Tech forced 17 Weevil turnovers and scored 22 points off those turnovers.
• Tech held an 18-7 advantage in bench points and a 46-44 advantage in points in the paint.