RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech men's basketball team started off Great American Conference play on a high note on Thursday night as they eased past Arkansas-Monticello, 75-67, at home inside Tucker Coliseum.
Spearheading the win in the conference-opener for the Wonder Boys (3-4, 1-0 GAC) was sophomore guard
Taelon Peter. The Russellville native had a career-high 28 points and filled the rest of his stat sheet with six rebounds, three steals and two blocks against the Boll Weevils (3-3, 0-1 GAC).
Peter was one of three Wonder Boys that would finish the game in double figures as
Tommy Kamarad was next with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting. D'Rell Roberts was the other Wonder Boy in double figures with 14 points off the bench.
Four of Robert's five made field goals came from beyond the arc as the Wonder Boys tied a season-high in three-pointers made with seven.
The turning point in Thursday's game came midway through the first half as the Wonder Boys, after falling behind by as many as eight points at the 14:37 mark, ripped off a 16-0 run over the next six minutes of game action to flip the eight-point deficit into an eight-point lead with 8:46 to play in the first half.
During that run, five different Wonder Boys scored with Kamarad having six points on three easy layups.
UAM would battle back and eventually tied the game at 27-all at the 2:28 mark on a three-pointer by Mario Fantina, but a quick answer of a trifecta on the other end by Tech's Roberts put the Wonder Boys back in front. They would maintain the lead through the remainder of the first half and carried a five-point lead into the locker room.
Just before the first media timeout in the second half, Tech had built a double-digit lead, 45-35, with 16:40 on the clock. UAM was able to get back within seven points a few minutes later, but an 8-0 scoring burst that had a pair of free throws by Kamarad and trifectas by Peter and Roberts swelled the lead to 15 points with 11:31 to play.
Later in the half, Tech pushed its lead out to its apex of 21 point at the 8:25 mark. Firmly in control of the game and with time on their side, the Wonder Boys withstood a late UAM rally and cruised to an eight-point victory, 75-67.
The Wonder Boys will now turn their attention to Ouachita as they are set to play the Tigers on the road this coming Saturday afternoon. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 3 p.m.
