RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Tied at halftime, the Arkansas Tech men's basketball team fell victim to a sizable run by visiting Northwestern Oklahoma to start the second half. That run created separation that ultimately would be too much to overcome as Tech fell at home on Saturday afternoon by a score of 83-67.
 
The run to begin the second half by the Rangers (11-6, 6-5 GAC) ended up being 22-3 and lasted through the first five minutes of action. NWOSU also had began the game on a sizable run as they started off on a 9-0 run through the first three minutes of play.
 
The Wonder Boys (5-8, 2-5 GAC) were able to weather that initial run by the Rangers and eventually took a 14-13 lead at the 11:56 mark of the first half. Tech kept the lead throughout much of the remainder of the first half and grew the advantage out to as much as nine points, 34-25, with just over three minutes left before halftime.
 
Over the remainder of time in the first half, however, NWOSU closed out the period on a 9-0 run to knot the score at 34-all heading into the locker room.
 
Out of the break, the Rangers went on their aforementioned big run and grew their lead out 19 points with 14:51 to play in regulation. The Wonder Boys battled back over the next couple of minutes of action and pulled within 13 points with just over 12 minutes left.
 
NWOSU stemmed the tide there and went on to build a lead of 20 points at the 7:15 mark. Once more, however, the Wonder Boys showed fight and battled back to get within a dozen of the lead with just over five minutes left to play.
 
Unfortunately, there would not be enough game time left to mount a comeback as the Rangers kept the Wonder Boys at arm's length the rest of the way out.
 
Seven different Wonder Boys scored in the game with all seven of those players scoring at least six points. Cejay Mann led the way in scoring with 15 points. He was followed by Cameron Kennedy with 12 points. Kevin Howard rounded out double-figure scoring with 10 points. Calvin Allen and Niko Gosnell added nine points as well. Caden Hale and Isaac Ragland finished with six points.
 
The Wonder Boys will once more have a quick turnaround as they are set to play a makeup game at home with East Central on Monday, January 24. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for January 1, but was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols.