ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Playing in their final road game of the regular season, the Arkansas Tech men's basketball team ran into a hot-shooting Henderson State team on Thursday night and lost by a score of 81-61.
Playing in front of their home crowd for the last time this season, the Reddies (13-14, 10-11 GAC) played inspired and made a season-high 14 three-pointers and shot over 50% from the floor while also not missing a free throw in nine attempts at the line.
The three-point shot started early for the Reddies as their first made field goal was from beyond the arc and swung the lead in the favor in the very early going in the game. Henderson would remain out in front until the Wonder Boys (14-13, 12-9 GAC) tied the score at 10-all with 14:39 remaining in the first half.
That tie did not last long as the Reddies pushed back ahead on their ensuing trip down the floor. The Reddies then built their lead out nine points with just under 10 minutes left, but a 7-0 run by the Wonder Boys pulled them within a bucket at the 7:17 mark. Unfortunately, the Reddies were able to stop the run there and scored on their next possession following Tech pulling within two points.
Henderson then built their lead up as high as 13 points in the first half on their seventh three-pointer of the half being made at 2:35 mark. Tech was able to cut the deficit down to nine points before halftime thanks making all three of their final shots of the half, but on the other end, Henderson made two of their last three to only allow Tech to chip away four points.
The biggest turning point in the game came at the very beginning of the second half as the Reddies made three-consecutive three-point shots while holding Tech scoreless to suddenly double their lead to 18 in just a minute and a half into the second half.
The Wonder Boys would attempt to claw back into the game and brought the deficit under double digits on a three-pointer by
Kade Shaffer at the 13:31 mark, but were unable to make any more headway as both teams went scoreless for the next 3:44 of game time.
The Reddies were the first to snap that scoreless streak with a three-pointer and proceeded to make two more in succession to once more double a nine-point lead back out to 18 points. A few minutes later, the Reddies made their 14
th and final three-pointer of the game to push their lead to its apex of 21 points.
Statistically, the Wonder Boys had two players score in double figures in the game with
BJ Johnson leading the way with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting. It was the second time in his last three games that Johnson has eclipsed the double-digit mark in scoring.
Taelon Peter was behind Johnson in scoring with 11.
The Wonder Boys will now turn their attention towards their final game of the regular season as they play host to Southern Arkansas on Saturday afternoon. Prior to the game, which is scheduled to start at 3 p.m., the Wonder Boys will be honoring the three seniors on this year's team:
Calvin Allen, D'Rell Roberts and
Niko Gosnell.
