ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - Fresh off their win at home on Thursday evening against Arkansas-Monticello, the Arkansas Tech men's basketball team takes care of business once again as they hand Ouachita Baptist their first GAC loss of the season with a 74-65 win on the road in overtime. The Wonder Boys advance to 4-4 overall on the season and own a 2-0 record in Great American Conference play.
Arkansas Tech saw four players hit double figures in scoring against the Tigers and were led by
Taelon Peter's 18 points. The Russellville, Ark. native led the charge on the boards for the Wonder Boys as well with a team-high nine rebounds, while also dishing out two assists and coming up with a steal in the late afternoon matchup against the Tigers (2-3, 1-1 GAC).
Wes Harris was the next member of the Wonder Boys to score double-digits putting up 16 points in the contest. Harris also shot the ball at an exceptionally high rate knocking down 72.7% (8-of-11) of his shots from the floor. Closing out the leading scorers for the Wonder Boys was
Andre Leavell and D'Rell Roberts who each scored 13 points on the afternoon. Leavell had a near perfect shooting game missing only one shot on 80% (4-of-5) shooting from field goal range, while he knocked down his only three-point attempt in the game.
The first half began rocky for the Wonder Boys as the Tigers opened the game on an 8-0 run, but a three-point basket by Peter and a steal by Leavell that led to a pass up the floor for a fastbreak jumpshot inside for Harris got Tech back in the game down 5-8 with 16:38 left to play in the first half of action.
Following a three-point miss by the Tigers, Roberts sent a nice pass up to Harris who drove inside for the slam to make it just a one point game. The Wonder Boys would tie the game up at 12-12 with a steal by Peter who raced down court going coast-to-coast for the thunderous finish at the rim. Following a quick 4-0 run by Ouachita Baptist,
Kade Shaffer would respond for Arkansas Tech drilling a shot from beyond-the-arc to pick up his only bucket of the afternoon.
A long range triple for
BJ Johnson would tie the game before the Wonder Boys would take control of the lead off a layup inside by Harris and a three-point basket by Roberts to make it 24-19 with 7:16 left in the first half of action.
The Wonder Boys would get a layup to fall and connect on a three-point shot to end their first half of scoring and enter the halftime break holding a 29-26 lead over the Tigers.
The Tigers would open the second half strong on offense as they took back the lead early on a three-point basket to hold a 33-31 lead over Tech.
Arkansas Tech responded with solid defensive play to force missed shots by the Tigers and three straight offensive possessions that resulted in made shots inside the paint as they led the game 38-35 over Ouachita with 15:12 left in the second half.
Ouachita Baptist found a turning point in the middle of the second half as they strung together a 13-2 run hitting a trio of three-pointers to take back the lead over Arkansas Tech at 50-42. Once again, however, the Wonder Boys found a response to the Ouachita run putting together a 10-0 run to take back the lead 52-50 with just over six minutes left to play in regulation.
The rest of the second half was back and forth between both sides that saw four total lead changes and seven ties before the game stood tied at 63-63 as the final buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime action. In terms of shooting in the second half, the Wonder Boys finished with an excellent efficiency knocking down 60.87% (14-of-23) of their shots from the floor as a team.
Arkansas Tech got right to work on offense to begin the overtime period as Johnson and Leavell both sunk jumpshots inside to give the team a 68-64 advantage. The Wonder Boy defense was also strong during overtime forcing turnovers and making the Tiger offense take tough contested shots. The Tech defense only allowed two-points for the Tigers on offense during the extra period of play.
Tech closed out the last stretch of the game scoring their final six points at the charity stripe to finish off the Tigers and take the 74-65 win on the road in Arkadelphia.
The Wonder Boys will get a week to prepare for their next outing when Henderson State comes to town on Monday, December 12 for an early evening matchup. The game against the Reddies is set for a 5 p.m. tip-off in Tucker Coliseum.
