MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech men's basketball team snapped a five-game skid on Saturday afternoon as they picked up a 64-59 win on the road at Southern Arkansas.
The win was also the Wonder Boys' first conference win of the season and improved their overall record to 4-6.
Early action in the game favored Tech as the Wonder Boys came out white-hot from beyond the arc with four makes in their first four attempts. All four of those trifectas came within the first four minutes and set the tone for the game.
Seybian Sims, who would go on to score a career-high 21 points, made the first two, while sharpshooter
Jakob Zenon buried the other two.
Overall, the Wonder Boys would knock down six three-pointers in the first half to help lift them to 35-29 lead at the break.
Prior to that halftime lead, however, the Wonder Boys had to weather a comeback surge by the Muleriders that saw them flip a nine-point deficit, 21-12 at the 8:52 mark, into a one-point lead, 24-23, at the 5:43 mark.
Despite that run, the Wonder Boys would settle back into the game, and by the 2:40 mark, were back up by seven thanks to an 8-0 burst that featured a layup by
Sean Cobb and consecutive threes by Zenon.
Early in the second half, the Wonder Boys pushed their lead out to double digits on a pair of occasions. By the 13:58 mark, however, SAU had pulled within five points of the lead. A quick 6-0 scoring burst by Tech put them back up by double digits.
Leading relatively comfortably for most of the second half, the Wonder Boys faced another Mulerider surge, this time as were back within five points with 3:33 to play. With the game now under 30 seconds and Tech still with a five-point lead,
Braden Tanner made a pair of clutch free throws to put the Wonder Boys up by seven, 63-56, with 26 seconds left.
Shortly thereafter, SAU made things even more interesting as they quickly got a three-pointer to fall to make it a four-point game with 18 seconds left. After the Wonder Boys successfully got the ball inbounded, SAU committed a foul to send Tech to the line in hopes of extending the game.
The Wonder Boys made one of two on that trip to the line, and fortunately that was enough to give them the win as SAU was unable to score over the final 14 seconds.
The Wonder Boys were led in scoring by the aforementioned Sims and his 21 points. Zenon would score 13 points while
Trey Allen had 12. Allen also recorded a double-double as he hauled in 10 rebounds (nine of those on the defensive glass).
The Wonder Boys will now prepare for their final game prior to the Christmas break as they will take on Arkansas-Monticello at home on Thursday, December 19. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
