RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The No. 24-ranked Arkansas Tech men's basketball team opened their season with a hard-fought 61-56 win against Missouri Southern at home on Friday night as part of the GAC/MIAA Crossover Challenge.
In the season-opening game, the Wonder Boys started off slow offensively and shot just 27.0% overall from the floor (10-of-37) and were 1-of-12 (8.3%) from three-point range. Despite their slow start scoring, the Wonder Boys were solid on defense helping them trail by just a point, 25-24, at halftime as they limited Missouri Southern to only 34.6% shooting from the floor in the first half.
That strong defensive effort showed up in the later portion of the first half as Missouri Southern held a lead as high as nine points on a pair of occasions. The last of those instances came at the 9:32 mark. After that, the Wonder Boys would begin to settle in some offensively and ripped off an 8-0 run over the next four minutes of action to cut the deficit down to a single point. 17-16.
Missouri Southern would remain in the lead, however, until the Wonder Boys tied it up at 20-all with 2:54 to go in the first half. Just about a minute later, Tech grabbed their first lead since the 18:14 mark of the first half on a three-pointer by
Cassius Brooks. That lead did not last long as the Lions scored on their other end to tie the game at 24-all. MSSU later would go into the locker room with the aforementioned 25-24 lead.
The second half for both teams got off to a better start offensively and the lead changed hands three times while the score was also tied twice over the first two minutes of action as a result. The last tie score occurred at the 17:41 mark and knotted the score at 31-all. About a minute late, the Wonder Boys broke the tie on a three-pointer by
Kade Shaffer.
That sparked the Wonder Boys to make their next four three-pointers as they suddenly got hot from long range and swelled their lead out to double-digits. Of those four triples made in that sequence, two were buried by Shaffer, two were knocked down by
Seybian Sims and one was made by Brooks.
Missouri Southern would attempt to stay in the game and did not let the Tech lead get too far out of reach and got as close as three points in the final minute, but the Wonder Boys had built up enough of a cushion to hold off the Lions for the eventual 61-56 win.
The overall improved offense in the second half saw the Wonder Boys shoot 44.4% overall from the field (12-of-27) while making 6-of-13 (46.2%) from long range. Individually, the Wonder Boys were led in scoring by Shaffer and his 21 points. Brooks was next in scoring with 18. Sims led the team in rebounding with 10 to along with his six points.
The Wonder Boys will now have a quick turnaround with their next game coming on Saturday afternoon against Newman. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
