ALVA, Okla. – Trailing by 15 points with just over two minutes left in the game, the Arkansas Tech men's basketball team staged a furious comeback effort that saw them make four-straight three pointers over a span of just under a minute and a half to get as close as five points with 47 seconds left. Northwestern Oklahoma staved off the threat at the free throw line, however, making 7-of-8 over the remainder of the game to come away with an 84-75 win on Thursday night.
 
During that surge, the Wonder Boys (9-15, 6-12 GAC) got their three-pointers from Tony Hall and Cameron Kennedy. Kennedy buried the first three-pointer of the run and knocked down the third. Hall's three's bookended Kennedy's makes.
 
That late success shooting from range was a part of an overall efficient night as the Wonder Boys ended the game with a 52% rate from three-point territory making 13-of-25. A great deal of that success came in the second half as Tech was 7-of-9 from beyond the arc. That hot start didn't carry over into the second initially as the Wonder Boys went 1-of-7 from distance prior to the four-consecutive makes.
 
On the other end, however, the three-ball could not miss at the start of the second half. Leading by six at the break thanks to a 5-0 run to close out the final minute of the first half, the Rangers (18-7, 13-6 GAC) ripped off a 9-2 run over the first 1:45 of the second half as they made three-straight three-pointers.
 
Suddenly, the Rangers' lead was now into double figures.
 
NWOSU would maintain a comfortable lead throughout most of the second half until the aforementioned late surge by the Wonder Boys.
 
Statistically, the numbers were good for the Wonder Boys as they shot over 50% overall from the floor and from three-point range. The Rangers were slightly higher in the overall shooting percentage and shot 47% from three, but made five fewer. The big difference among the two came at the charity stripe. The Rangers took 14 more attempts (30-to-16) and made that many more than the Wonder Boys did (24-to-10).
 
Individually, the Wonder Boys had four players score in double figures with Hall and Kennedy leading the way with 16 points apiece. BJ Johnson added 11 points while Calvin Allen scored 10 points to round out double-figure scoring.
 
The Wonder Boys will remain on the road and head to Weatherford where a crucial game against Southwestern Oklahoma awaits. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 19.