MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech men's basketball team went cold offensively in the second half of Saturday afternoon's game at Southern Arkansas resulting in the first loss in Great American Conference play as Tech fell to SAU by a score of 62-53.
The loss also snapped a five-game winning streak for the Wonder Boys (5-5, 3-1 GAC), which was the longest for the program since the 2017-18 season.
In Saturday's game, the Wonder Boys had the early advantage racing out to a 12-3 lead by the 15:29 mark. During that time, Tech forced four turnovers and held the Muleriders (6-3, 3-1 GAC) to 1-of-4 shooting from the floor.
Tech would maintain a lead throughout much of the first half and built it up as large as nine points, 19-10, with just over 11 minutes remaining in the opening stanza. A 10-0 run by SAU, however over the next 3:39 of the game put the Muleriders ahead by a point at the 7:24 mark.
The lead would change hands on three separate occasions over the next minute of game time and five times overall the rest of the half. The last of those lead changes favored Tech as
Niko Gosnell hammered home an ally-oop dunk off an assist by
Andre Leavell, giving the Wonder Boys a one-point lead with just under a minute left in the half.
Tech then made it a three-point advantage heading into the locker room on the ensuing possession as
BJ Johnson came away with a steal on the defensive end and finished with a fastbreak layup on the other.
The second half was controlled pretty much from the outset by the Muleriders as they went on an 8-0 run over the first three minutes or so of action to gain a five-point lead.
The Wonder Boys would regain the lead at the 12:54 mark on a converted and-one opportunity by
Calvin Allen, but SAU responded right back with a three-pointer their next trip down the court to swing the lead in their favor.
Minutes later, Tech was able to tie the score up at 41-all at the 10:32 mark on another conventional three-point play, this time converted by D'Rell Roberts.
This is, unfortunately, where the Wonder Boys would go cold offensively, scoring just one point over a near eight-minute stretch of game time. During that drought, SAU swelled their lead out to as much as 17 points.
A three-pointer by
Taelon Peter at the 2:51 mark finally snapped the cold spell, but the Muleriders had built up enough of a cushion to still cruise to a win.
Despite the tough shooting totals in the second half, the Wonder Boys still were able to cut the deficit into single digits as
Tommy Kamarad buried a pair of three-pointers in the waning seconds of the game.
Peter led the team in scoring with 13 points. He was followed by Gosnell with 12 points. Six other Wonder Boys contributed in scoring with no one else scoring more than seven points in the game.
The Wonder Boys will now have more than two full weeks to prepare for their season to resume as the Christmas break brings a lengthy 19 days off between games. The next time Tech hits the hardwood will be on Thursday, January 5 and will be played on the road at Southeastern Oklahoma. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
