RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – In the final game ahead of the upcoming Christmas break, the Arkansas Tech men's basketball team fell just short, 89-83, in a hard-fought battle with Southern Arkansas on Saturday afternoon inside Tucker Coliseum.
 
In the opening half, SAU controlled the action for a majority of the time, but the play was closely-contested. Leading by just a point, 17-16, at the 8:46 mark of the first half, the Muleriders (7-3, 3-1 GAC) would go on a quick 10-2 run over the next two and a half minutes or so to take their largest lead of the game to that point, nine points, 27-18, with 6:04 left. Nearly all of the points scored by SAU during that stretch came from beyond the arc as they knocked down a trio of three-pointers.
 
Just as SAU appeared to be heating up from long range, the Wonder Boys came back on their next two possessions and buried three-pointers themselves to trim the SAU lead down to three points in a blink of an eye. Cameron Kennedy and Czar Perry were the two who hit trifectas for the Wonder Boys (5-5, 2-2 GAC) during the stretch.
 
SAU stopped the momentum at that point and kept the Wonder Boys at arm's length the remainder of the half. With 1:12 left before halftime, SAU grabbed a 10-point lead, but a three by Taelon Peter brought the deficit back to single digits. Trailing by 11 with nine seconds left, Tech's Niko Gosnell knocked down a pair of free throws to keep it a single-digit game at the break.
 
Coming out of the break, the Wonder Boys quickly heated up on offense and made seven of their first eight shots from the floor. Despite the hot start, the Wonder Boys were only able to pull to within four points, 52-48, by the 16:15 mark due to the three-ball keeping SAU going. In that early stretch, SAU hit three trifectas.
 
Over the next three minutes of game time, the Muleriders knocked down three more three pointers, but a steady offensive attack by the Wonder Boys helped Tech weather those shots and saw them trail only by seven points, 61-54, with 13:19 left on the clock.
 
With just under 11:30 left, Tony Hall sparked a 13-2 run that gave the Wonder Boys the lead with just under nine minutes to go. During that run, Hall, who went on to score a career-high 23 points, had six points and an assist.
 
From there, play was super tight with four tie scores and five lead changes over the next six minutes of action.
 
The final of the lead changes occurred at the 2:18 mark on a layup by SAU's Devante Brooks following a missed Mulerider shot, putting SAU up 81-80. SAU go on to ice the game away with a made basket on their final attempt of the game at the 2:05 mark and an unblemished 6-of-6 showing at the charity stripe over the final 1:19 of the contest. Over that same stretch, Tech was 1-for-5 from the field with a turnover.
 
Statistically, the Wonder Boys ended up shooting over 50% from the field (34-of-64) thanks, in part, to a red-hot 67% success rate (22-of-33) in the second half alone. On the other end, SAU cooled down some in their percentage, but still ended up shooting an even 50% from the floor (29-of-58) thanks to a near 60% showing in the first half (13-of-22).
 
One of the key differences on the stat sheet that played a factor was the three-point shot. SAU was 11-of-20 (55%) for the game and 7-of-13 (54%) in the second half alone. Conversely, the Wonder Boys were 9-of-26 (35%) from three-point range for the game. SAU also shot and made more free throws than the Wonder Boys (20-to-6 makes; 27-to-11 attempts).
 
As mentioned previously, Hall established a new career-high in scoring with 23 points on a remarkable 10-of-13 shooting overall (3-of-4 3PT) He also led the team in rebounds and hauled in 10 to register a double-double. Perry was next in scoring with 23 points himself. Rounding out double-figure scoring was Taelon Peter with 12 points.
 
The Wonder Boys will now have some time off for the Christmas holiday and will return to the hardwood on Thursday, December 30. That night, the Wonder Boys will play host to league-leading Southeastern Oklahoma. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. inside Tucker Coliseum.