MONTICELLO, Ark. – A furious second half comeback attempt by the Arkansas Tech men's basketball team came up just a bit short as Tech fell on the road at Arkansas-Monticello by a score of 58-55 on Saturday afternoon.
 
The low-scoring affair saw the Boll Weevils (5-3, 1-1 GAC) take the early advantage and with just under 12 minutes left on the clock, the had grown their lead out its largest of the game to that point, seven points, 17-10. A 5-0 run by the Wonder Boys (5-3 1-1 GAC) over the next two minutes pulled them within a bucket, 17-15, with 9:29 remaining in the first half.
 
Not relinquishing the lead, the Boll Weevils eventually built up a nine-point lead with 4:08 to go in the first half. The Wonder Boys would not let the lead get any larger for the remainder of the first half, but would go into the locker room trailing by seven, 29-22.
 
Just over two minutes into the second half and UAM established the largest lead of the game as they took a 10-point advantage, 33-23, with 17:55 left on the clock. A couple of quick baskets over the next 30 seconds by Kevin Howard inside trimmed the deficit down to six points. The second of those buckets by Howard came as a result of a steal by Taelon Peter as UAM attempted to get the ball across the timeline.
 
After the second of Howard's consecutive layups, the Wonder Boys came away with another steal, this time by Cameron Kennedy. On that ensuing possession, Kennedy would knock down a mid-range jumper to cap the 6-0 spurt that turned a 10-point deficit into a four-point margin in just over a minute of action.
 
The Boll Weevils snapped the run on their ensuing possession following the Kennedy jumper. Remaining in the lead, UAM built their lead back out as high as eight points, 43-35, with 12:50 remaining on the clock.
 
Over the next three or so minutes of action, the Wonder Boys ripped off an 11-1 run suddenly overtake the lead, 46-44, with 9:05 to go in regulation. During that run, the Wonder Boys got five points from BJ Johnson, four from Howard and two from Peter.
 
After UAM made a pair of free throws at the 7:42 mark to tie the game at 46-all, Howard's career-night of scoring continued to get better as he went on a personal 5-0 run that gave the Wonder Boys their largest lead of the night – five points, with 6:21 to play. The first basket by Howard was a layup at the 7:30 mark and the second was a three-pointer at the aforementioned 6:21 mark.
 
The momentum from that Howard spurt was shortlived, however, as UAM got a three-pointer of their own on their next trip down the floor. UAM later tied the game at 51- all at the free throw line with 4:37 on the clock, by another Howard layup on the next possession kept the Wonder Boys out in front.
 
With 2:45 left on the clock, the Boll Weevils regained the lead on a corner three-pointer. Over the next minute of action, the lead changed hands twice. The final of those lead changes came at the free throw line with 2:01 left to play and was in favor of UAM.
 
Tech would miss their next five shots down the stretch as they were unable to swing the score back in their favor. With just seconds left, UAM added pair of clutch free throws to bring the game to its eventual final margin of three points, 58-55.
 
Three Wonder Boys scored in double figures with Howard leading the way with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting overall. Perry and Peter each scored 10 points.
 
The Wonder Boys will now have a week before playing their next game against Henderson State. It will be another road game for the Wonder Boys with tip-off scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday, December 11 inside the Duke Wells Center in Arkadelphia.