EMPORIA, Kan. – The Arkansas Tech men's basketball team opened their 2023-24 season on the road on Friday night at No. 20-ranked Emporia State as part of the GAC/MIAA Challenge. Unfortunately, a slow start proved to be too much to overcome as Tech would drop the opener to Emporia, 86-76.
The slow start by the Wonder Boys allowed Emporia to build up a 13-0 lead through the first five and a half minutes of the game. The first points by the Wonder Boys came on a pair of made free throws by
Taelon Peter at the 14:27 mark, but it was still a double-digit advantage for the Hornets.
Later in the first half, the Hornets were able to push their lead out as large as 20 points at the 6:22 mark before heading into the locker room with a 17-point advantage.
The Wonder Boys would gather themselves at the break and began to slowly make inroads against their deficit, but the Hornets would maintain a double-digit lead throughout most of the second half.
Displaying relentless effort, however, the Wonder Boys put together a furious rally late in the second half. Trailing by 18 points with 3:49 left, the Wonder Boys would go on a breakneck 12-1 run over the next 1:36 of the game to pull within seven points of the lead, 79-72.
Kade Shaffer sparked the surge with a three-pointer.
Seybian Sims and
Josh Mitchell followed with points in the paint to pull Tech within 11. After Emporia split a trip to the free throw line, the Wonder Boys scored five more quick points with a pair of made free throws by
Cassius Brooks and a three-pointer by Peter.
The Hornets were able to stop the surge after the Peter three-ball, however, and went back up by double digits and eventually closed out the game with a 10-point margin of victory.
Despite the slow start offensively, the Wonder Boys would go on to shoot 44.6% overall from the field and had four players score in double figures. Peter led the charge on offense with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting overall. He also added four assists, four steals and two rebounds to his stat sheet.
Brooks was next in scoring with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting.
Josh Mitchell came off the bench and added 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting. He also tied for the team-lead in rebounds with seven. Sims also had seven boards and was the fourth Wonder Boy in double-digits with 11.
Tech will now look to bounce back in short order as they take on (rv) Fort Hays State on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:45 p.m.
