ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Road victories in general are hard to come by, and the degree of difficulty only rises in conference play. Both of those scenarios faced the Arkansas Tech men's basketball team on Saturday as they played on the road at GAC-rival Henderson State. Despite the inherent disadvantage, Tech came away with a big road win and used overtime in order to do so, beating Henderson, 84-78.
 
The win snapped a four-game losing skid for Tech against Henderson and was the Wonder Boys (4-4, 2-1 GAC) first win over the Reddies (5-3, 2-1 GAC) since January of 2020. All four of the most-recent wins for Henderson came during last year's unique schedule format that saw Tech and Henderson face off four times in the regular season due to COVID-19 considerations.
 
In the game on Saturday, the Wonder Boys controlled the scoreboard early leading from the opening score through the 4:47 mark when the Reddies were able to grab their first lead of the game, 25-23. Prior to that, the Wonder Boys had kept the Reddies arm's length leading by as much as seven points on three occasions.
 
After the Reddies took their first lead of the game late in the first half, they were able to hold on to the lead up to halftime. Tech was able to tie the score three times during that stretch, but weren't able to swing the score in their favor.
 
Play remained closely-contested throughout the early parts of the second half. The Wonder Boys were again able to tie the score on three occasions through the first two minutes of action, but the Reddies did not relinquish the lead.
 
With Henderson leading by two points, 36-35, at the 18:56 mark, the Wonder Boys rattled off an 8-0 run over the next three minutes of action to surge ahead by six points, 43-37, with 15:43 left in the second half. Three-pointers served as the bookends of that run with Czar Perry knocking down the first and the second being buried by Cameron Kennedy. In between those trifectas, Tony Hall had a layup off an assist from Perry.
 
Perry would go on to dish out 15 assists to set a new Wonder Boys single-game record. The previous record was 14 assists, done twice – by Eddie Corder vs. Oral Roberts (11/27/1989) and by Kirk Glintborg vs. Oregon Tech (12/10/1995).
 
After taking the lead back at that point, the Wonder Boys once more gained control of the scoreboard and led all the way up until the horn at the end of regulation. Unfortunately, the game was not over in regulation, however, as the Reddies were able to tie the score at 70-all on a last-second layup following a Tech turnover.
 
Battle-tested earlier this season, the Wonder Boys took the unanticipated overtime period in stride and continued to compete. Through the first half of the additional five-minute period, the Reddies were up to the task as well as each team jockeyed for control.
 
Tied at 75-all with just over two minutes left in overtime, the following sequence put the Wonder Boys in control. With 2:08 left, Taelon Peter was on the receiving end of a Perry dime and put Tech up 77-75. On the ensuing defensive trip down the floor, Niko Gosnell recorded a huge block that was hauled in on the defensive glass by Hall. Perry was then fouled on the other end of the court and made good on both of his free throw attempts to put Tech up by four.
 
Déjà vu struck moments later with another Gosnell block. This one was hauled in for a defensive rebound by Peter, who proceeded to go coast-to-coast and throw down a reverberating dunk to put the Wonder Boys up 81-75 with 1:16 left in OT.
 
The Reddies then cut the six-point deficit in half on a three-pointer with just under a minute to play.
 
Following a Tech timeout, both teams traded missed field goals to bring the game clock to just over 30 seconds left. The Wonder Boys came away with the second of those defensive rebounds and once more it was Perry who was fouled. Perry again cashed in both attempts, making it a two-possession advantage for the Wonder Boys.
 
The Reddies were able to get off one more shot with a chance to cut into the deficit, but it drew iron and a defensive rebound by Calvin Allen led to a foul to Peter, who put the game away splitting his two attempts and giving Tech a six-point lead with just six seconds left. The Reddies would take one final three-pointer before the final horn, but it was no good, ending the game at the final score of 84-78.
 
Statistically, the Wonder Boys nearly shot 50% as a team going 31-for-63 overall from the floor. They were just 5-of-18 from three-point range (28%), but were 17-of-25 from the free throw line (68%).
 
Individually, the Wonder Boys had five players score in double figures with four of the five starters reaching the mark. Perry led the way with 19 points on 5-of-15 shooting overall. He was also 8-of-10 from the charity stripe and added the aforementioned single-game record 15 assists.
 
Kevin Howard was next in scoring with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting overall and 4-of-6 from the free throw line. Hall had 15 points followed by Peter's 13 and Kennedy's 10. Gosnell, in limited minutes, was highly-efficient with seven points on 3-of-3 shooting and had the two big blocks in overtime.
 
The Wonder Boys will now return home for their final non-conference game of the season as they are set to take on nearby Hendrix College. That game will take place on Wednesday, December 15 and will have a special tip-off time of 11 a.m. for the inaugural Kid's Day Out Game at Tucker Coliseum.