TIPPING OFF
Coming off a postponed game against Southern Arkansas, Arkansas Tech looks to get back on their feet.
The Golden Suns will get their opportunity to get back to their strong GAC play this week with two home games. Arkansas Tech finds themselves in a home stand to go head-to-head with Southeastern Okla. and East Central in a Thursday and Saturday afternoon clash. The game in Tucker Coliseum against Southeastern is scheduled for a tipoff time of 5:30 p.m. on Thursday while the contest against East Central will be at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
With a 5-2 start to the year, the Golden Suns have shown that they are a team with a lot of resilience as they were able to hold onto the lead against Ouachita Baptist in their GAC opener in Tucker Coliseum and walk out with a 90-84 win, despite 43 points from Ouachita freshmen Aspen Thornton, who leads all of division II in points per game. They once again showed their ability to withstand pressure holding on to defeat Arkansas-Monticello on the road 72-66.
Also, the Golden Suns displayed the ability to make adjustments and find another level of both offense and defense to pull away from their opponents. In their home opener, the Golden Suns held just a three-point lead at halftime over Champion Christian and went on to win by 29 points. Against Angelo State, they were down by 8 at the half, but Tech went on to score 34 points in the third quarter to give them the edge and pull out the 76-63 victory.
TECH TIDBITS
Arkansas Tech enters this weekend with a 5-2 overall record and a 2-1 record among conference opponents. Their last outing proved to be a very difficult one as the Golden Suns got outrebounded by the Henderson State Reddies on the road and could not find an answer for it.
Statistically, this year, the Golden Suns are averaging 78.1 ppg and rank fifth in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Suns rank eighth in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 68.6 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Golden Suns are fifth in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .433 (200-of-462) and are limiting their opponents to a .385 mark (172-of-447) to rank seventh.
From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns are shooting at a clip of .291 (37-of-127) to rank 9th in the GAC while their opponents are making three-pointers at a mark of .289 (39-of-135) to rank fifth. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns are shooting .775 as a team (110-of-142) to rank third.
Individually, the Golden Suns have four players averaging double figures in scoring. Kaley Shipman leads the way at 19.4 ppg. Ashlei Lopez is next at 17.0 ppg. Jayana Sanders and Sydnee Wynn are the other two in double figures scoring at 13.1 ppg and 11.8 ppg, respectively.
The Golden Suns are coached by Dave Wilbers, who is in his 15th season on the sidelines at Tech. A member of the 300-career win club, Wilbers has a career record of 317-97. Overall in his time at Tech, Wilbers has kept the Golden Suns as perennial contenders in the GAC, the region and the nation, winning 20 or more games nine times, capturing seven conference regular championships, five conference tournament championships and advancing to nine NCAA Regional Tournaments.
SCOUTING THE SAVAGE STORM
Southeastern Okla. enters Thursday's conference game at 3-7 overall with a 1-3 record in conference play and are coming off of a tough 68-71 loss at Northwestern Oklahoma. Their last win was at home against Southern Nazarene on December 4.
In the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, Southeastern finished 13-8 overall and 11-7 in conference to place second in the GAC West.
Statistically this season, the Savage Storm average 63.9 ppg on offense to rank 11th in the GAC and give up an average of 63.3 ppg to rank fifth in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, SEOK shoots at a .416 clip overall (217-of-522) to rank eighth and is allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .390 (208-of-533) to rank ninth.
From three-point range, the Savage Storm shoot at a .314 clip (58-of-185) to rank seventh in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .263 (44-of-167) from range to rank third. At the charity stripe, the Savage Storm shoot .790 (83-of-105) to rank second in the GAC.
Individually, the Savage Storm have two players scoring in double figures and are led by Briley Moon with 14.5 ppg and Kamryn Cantwell averaging 14.2 ppg. Moon is shooting well from long range this season at 42% (26-of-62) and has scored 145 total points so far this season. Both Moon and Cantwell are shooting a solid 86.7% from the free throw line this season.
The Savage Storm are coached by Darin Grover, who is in his 17th season at Southeastern Oklahoma. In his time as a head coach at Southeastern, Collins has amassed a 251-200 record and has won more than 300 games in his coaching career.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
East Central enters Saturday's conference game at 5-3 overall with a 2-2 record in conference play and are coming off a 61-56 win at Oklahoma Baptist.
In the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, East Central finished 10-9 overall and 9-8 in conference to place fourth in the GAC West.
Statistically this season, the Tigers average 71.1 ppg on offense to rank eighth in the GAC and give up an average of 61.4 ppg to rank third in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, ECU shoots at a .433 clip overall (166-of-383) to rank fourth and is allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .371 (139-of-375) to rank second.
From three-point range, the Tigers shoot at a .369 clip (59-of-160) to rank third in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .327 (55-of-168) from range to rank 11th. At the charity stripe, the Tigers shoot .823 (107-of-130) to rank first in the GAC.
Individually, the Tigers have three players scoring in double figures and are led by Madison Rehl with 15.0 ppg and Kate Ogle averaging 11.3 ppg. Rounding out the double figure scorers is Mackenzie Crusoe with 10.8 ppg. All three double figure scorers for the Tigers are shooting very well from three each shooting above 38% on the season with Ogle shooting a hot 48.8% (20-of-41) from long range.
The Tigers are coached by Matt Cole, who is in his eighth season at East Central. In his time as the Tigers coach, Cole has a 96-98 overall record.
