BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Jayana Sanders turned in a 14-point, 11-rebound, five-assist effort, Hannah Villines turned in a 18-point, seven-rebound effort, while Lyrik Williams scored 12 points off the bench as the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns basketball team (14-15) stunned the second-seeded East Central Tigers (21-8) with a 76-74 double-overtime victory on Thursday in the opening round of the Great American Conference championship tournament.  
 
NEXT UP

• The Golden Suns play a semifinal matchup on Saturday, March 9 at 2:15 p.m. against the winner of the Southern Nazarene/Southeastern Oklahoma quarterfinal.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Golden Suns opened the game on a 10-2 run over the first 2:01.
• ECU cut the Tech advantage to one (12-11) with 3:52 remaining in the opening quarter, on a 3-pointer by Lakin Preisner.
• The Golden Suns would pull back out to as many as seven (22-15) in the closing minutes of the quarter before ECU cut it back to five (22-17) at the quarter break.
• The Golden Suns held ECU at arm's length through the majority of the second quarter, opening up a nine-point (37-28) lead with 2:56 remaining until half.
• An 8-0 run by ECU pulled the Tigers to within one (37-36) with 48 seconds remaining, but Lyrik Williams' layup with 31 seconds to play sent Tech into the half with a 39-36 lead.
• ECU tied the game at 41-41 at the 6:14 mark on a free-throw by Sam Schwab, but the Suns quickly reclaimed the advantage on the next possession on a Hannah Villines layup.
• The Tigers again knotted the game on a layup by Madison Rehl with 5:42 remaining in the quarter, and grabbed the offensive rebound on the and-one opportunity, with Schwab banking home a layup after a second offensive board at the 5:07 mark to give East Central its first lead of the game at 45-43.
• Tech reclaimed the lead at 46-45 on a 3-pointer by Jayana Sanders with 4:20 remaining in the third.
• The two teams traded leads over the remaining minutes of the quarter, going into the fourth quarter tied at 50.
• ECU claimed the lead on the opening possession of the fourth quarter, but Tech reclaimed the lead on a Leighton Taylor 3-pointer with 9:17 to play, and extended its advantage to six (58-52) with 6:01 remaining.
• The Tigers took advantage of a three-point play to pull to within three (60-57) with 3:33 remaining, and cut it to one (60-59) with 2:56 remaining after Villines fouled out.
• The Golden Suns extended the lead back to three (62-59) after a Williams layup at the 2:42 mark.
• ECU knotted the game with 53 seconds to play after a turnover led to a fast-break layup by Rehl.
• The two teams were tied at 62 at the end of regulation.
• After the Golden Suns reclaimed the lead at 4:34 mark of overtime on a Williams layup, the two teams were scoreless until ECU tied the game at the 2:21 mark, and then the Tigers claimed the lead 65-64 with 1:55 to play.
• Tech responded on the ensuing possession on a turnaround jumper by Williams, pulling ahead 66-65 with 1:36 to play.
• ECU's Tia Williams buried a 3-pointer with 43 seconds to play to put the Tigers ahead 68-66 with 42.4 seconds on the clock.
• Sanders was sent to the line with 23.3 seconds to play and the chance to knot the game. She buried both free-throws to tie the game at 68, sending the game to a second overtime.
• Tech scored the first five points of the second overtime to seize a five-point (73-68) advantage with 3:46 remaining.
• ECU got on the board at the 3:40 mark with a pair of free-throws, cutting the Tech lead to 73-70.
• The Tigers cut the Tech advantage to one (73-72) on a Madison Nickens layup with 2:58 remaining.
• Tech stretched its lead back to four (76-72) with 1:26 to play after a fast-break layup by Kiara Moses and a free-throw by Williams.
• A bucket by ECU with 1:11 on the clock pulled the game back to within two (76-74).
• A Tech miss on the ensuing possession gave the ball back to ECU, who took advantage of an offensive rebound to set up another potential game-winning shot opportunity. The shot missed, but a foul by the Golden Suns with 1.5 seconds to play sent ECU's Sam Schwab to the line with the opportunity to tie the game.
• Schwab missed both shots and the final rebound went out of bounds as time expired.

NOTABLES

• Ryann Goodsell added a 10-point, nine-rebound effort.
• ECU held a 32-28 advantage in points in the paint, a 16-5 advantage in points off turnovers, and a 18-11 advantage in fast-break points.
• Tech held a 16-11 advantage in second-chance points and a 20-14 advantage in bench points.
• The Golden Suns led for 42:21 of the game.
• There were 10 lead changes and six ties in the contest.