RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - After shooting 55.1% (27-of-49) from the floor and 45.8% (11-of-24) from long range, the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys secure a 72-46 victory over Arkansas-Monticello at home in Tucker Coliseum. The Wonder Boys move to 7-11 overall with a 4-8 record among Great American Conference opponents.
Leading the way against Arkansas-Monticello for Tech was senior forward
Cameron Kennedy and senior guard
Tony Hall as the pair lit up the court with hot shooting each scoring 19 points. Kennedy shot 66.7% (8-of-12) from the floor and 60.0% (3-of-5) from beyond the arc while also grabbing three rebounds, an assist and a block. Hall made 58.3% (7-of-12) of his shots from field goal range and connected on 50.0% (5-of-10) from three. The senior guard  also contributed eight boards, two assists and a steal for Tech. Freshman guard Peter Taelon was the third member of the Wonder Boys to score double-digits putting up 10 points, two rebounds, an assist and three steals. Closing out the leading scorers for Arkansas Tech was junior forward
Niko Gosnell with nine points, five boards, a steal and three big blocks.
Both sides opened the first half firing on all cylinders from long range with each side hitting a three for their first bucket of the game. Hall grabbed Tech the early lead nailing their second triple of the night to hold a 6-3 lead with just over 16 minutes left in the first half. Kennedy quickly established his scoring dominance early in the game scoring the next seven straight points for the Wonder Boys to extend their lead over the Boll Weevils. Another three from Hall and a layup from Gosnell made it an 18-14 lead for Arkansas Tech with 8:09 left to play in the first.
The Boll Weevils closed to within six points after a made three point basket, but the Wonder Boys would pile on the pressure ending the first half on an 8-0 run capped off by a dunk from Gosnell to head to the locker room with the 33-19 lead at the break.
The Wonder Boys started the second half of action the same way they started the first, with a made three ball to give them an early 36-19 second half lead. Hall would get another triple to fall early in the second half to give Arkansas Tech a 20 point lead over Arkansas-Monticello. From here, both sides traded buckets back and forth eventually forcing the Boll Weevils to switch to full court press to try and slow down the Wonder Boys offense. This appeared to slow the offense down some allowing for some layups and three point shots to fall for Arkansas-Monticello as they managed to pull back within 13 following an and one opportunity to make it a 56-43 Tech lead with 5:52 remaining in the game.
The Wonder Boys would control the last five minutes of the game however allowing the Boll Weevils to score only three points for the remainder of the night. Tech finished those final five minutes of play on a 16-3 run that saw a nice steal and ferocious slam by Bj Johnson to give them the edge needed to pull out the big win. The Wonder Boys finished the second half outscoring Arkansas-Monticello 39-27.
The Wonder Boys have a quick turnaround to return to action as they head to Shawnee, Okla. to face the Oklahoma Baptist Bison on Monday, February 7. Tip-off is set 6 p.m. on Monday night in Shawnee.
