SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Arkansas Tech men's basketball team secured their first win of the 2022-23 season on Wednesday night, 68-61, as they played an all-around solid game on the road against host school Drury University in the final game of the Drury Thanksgiving Invitational.
In the win, the Wonder Boys (1-4) showed the resolve that they had displayed in all games thus far, but were finally able to get over the hump and into the win column.
Trailing by nine points with just over 12 minutes left in the first half, the Wonder Boys ripped of a 7-0 run to close the gap to just two points, 17-15, with 9:24 left. Drury momentarily stopped the run with a three-pointer on their next trip down the floor, but Tech would continue to apply the pressure and eventually grabbed the lead, 21-20, at the 6:07 mark on a pair of made free throws by D'Rell Roberts.
With just under three minutes to go in the first half, however, Drury led by three points. Tech's next trip down the floor saw
Wes Harris make a layup and moments later, after coming away with a steal, Peter threw down a dunk in transition to give the Wonder Boys the lead once more, this time 25-24 with 2:06 left in the first half.
The Wonder Boys then went on to score the final five points of the half to cap off a 9-0 run and give them a six-point lead at the break.
That momentum going into the locker room carried over into the second half as Tech opened up an 11-0 run to swell their lead to its apex of 17 points, 41-24, with 16:12 to go in regulation. During that run,
DeShawn Davidson had seven points while Harris accounted for the other four on layups.
The Panthers (2-3) were able to finally score a basket on their next trip down the floor and the initial make of the second half, while coming more than five minutes into the action would jumpstart their offense.
Over the next handful of minutes, the Panthers tried to play their way back into the game, pulled within single digits on several occasions and got as close as five points with just over five minutes left to play, but the Wonder Boys were able to stem the tide each time and hold off Drury for their first road win at Drury in 14 tries.
Statistically, the Wonder Boys shot 42% overall from the floor (25-of-59) and had four of their five starters reach double figures in scoring. Harris led the way with 19 points on 9-of-17 shooting. He also hauled in a team-high eight rebounds and had three blocks and a steal.
Peter was next in scoring with 12 points, followed by Davidson's 11 points. Roberts closed out double-figure scoring with a 10-point effort. Peter would lead the team in steals with three, while Roberts lead in assists with four.
The Wonder Boys will look to continue the momentum for their next game, which will be at home on Monday, November 28 against the University of the Ozarks. Tip-off for the game is a special 11 a.m. start. Close to 1,000 elementary school kids from the River Valley will be in attendance as the Wonder Boys take on the Eagles.
