ALVA, Okla. – The Arkansas Tech men's basketball team lost their conference-opening game on Thursday night at Northwestern Oklahoma by a score of 89-75. The game started out with a relatively low-scoring first half, but gave way to an offensive barrage in the second half.
In the loss, senior guard
Cassius Brooks continued his remarkable scoring output early in the season as he scored a career-high 32 points. Most of the damage done by Brooks came at the free throw line as he was a mind-boggling 22-of-23 from the charity stripe.
The 22 makes at the free throw line tied the single-game record which was established by Larry LeFevers in a game against University of the Ozarks back on January 11, 1965. The 23 attempts also tied the single-game record with the aforementioned LeFevers. Chad Henderson also attempted 23 free throws in a game against Central Oklahoma on December 21, 2008.
Brooks is now averaging 21.1 ppg and has scored in double-figures in all seven games played thus far.
Outside of Brooks' success at the free throw line, however, the Wonder Boys struggled to get consistent offense elsewhere.
Seybian Sims and
Jakob Zenon would reach double figures by the end of the game with Zenon scoring 11 off the bench and Sims 10 from the starting lineup.
Overall, the game was really a tale of two halves as it was just a one-point game at the break with NWOSU leading 31-30.
The second half was back and forth early with six lead changes and three tie scores through the first six minutes of action. With the score tied at 41-all, NWOSU hit a three-pointer at the 13:49 mark to give them a lead they would not relinquish. That three also served as the jumping off point of the Rangers sprinting out away from the Wonder Boys and cruising to a comfortable margin of victory.
The Wonder Boys will look to rebound on Saturday as they remain on the road at Southwestern Oklahoma. Tip-off for the game is slated for 3 p.m.
