RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech men's basketball team responded to a disappointing loss at home on Thursday night against Southern Nazarene in a major way on Saturday as they shoot the lights out against Oklahoma Baptist to lift themselves to an 82-78 win.
Overall, for the game, the Wonder Boys shot over 50% from the field (30-of-56), but it was their prowess from long range that secured the win. From beyond the arc, the Wonder Boys made a season-high 14 three-pointers and were successful on 64% of their attempts, also a season-high.
Contributing four of those deep makes was to no shock of anyone as
Taelon Peter was 4-of-7 from range on his way to a 28-point performance against the Bison. Also not really shocking were
Tommy Kamarad and
Kade Shaffer making a three-pointer each.
Rather, it was where the other eight makes from downtown came from that provided a pleasant surprise to everyone inside Tucker Coliseum as
Isaac Ragland and
Braden Tanner accounted for the remaining buckets. Ragland, a junior from Valley Springs made 5-of-6 his shots from three-point range and ended with a career-high 18 points. Meanwhile, Tanner, a freshman from nearby Dardanelle made 3-of-4 from deep as he set a new single-game high in scoring as well.
What was more important than the sheer volume of the three-point makes for the Wonder Boys was the timing of them, especially in the second half.
With Tech leading by two points at the 16:52 mark of the second half and having led since the 15:03 mark of the first half, Ragland hit his first three-pointer to push Tech back up by two possessions. About a minute later, ole Rag Time Ragland was back at it, this time doubling a three-point Tech lead with 15:28 to play, 48-42.
At the 11:23 mark, Ragland's third-straight make from deep gave the Wonder Boys a double-digit lead, 56-46. A couple of minutes later, Ragland's fourth-straight three-pointer gave Tech their largest lead of the game to that point, 12 points, 62-50, with 9:37 to play.
By the 5:59 mark, the Bison had got as close as three points of Tech's lead, but it was Ragland again with the clutch basket, this time driving in the paint that kept the cushion favorable for the Wonder Boys. About a minute later, he buried his fifth three-pointer of the game and pushed the Tech lead back up to eight points, 70-62, with 4:44 to play.
The Bison, to their credit, never went away in the game and were once more a possession away from tying the score, but this time it was Peter with the clutch three that doubled Tech's lead to six points, 77-71, with 3:11 to go.
Later, the Bison trimmed a seven-point deficit with 1:39 to go down to a single point by the 25-second mark, but a pair of clutch free throws by Peter kept Tech in front by three, 81-78 with under 10 seconds to play.
Oklahoma Baptist would have one final possession and a chance to tie the game after Peter's made free throws. On that possession, the Bison were able to get the ball into the front court and attempted a potential game-tying three, but it was blocked by Peter with just tenths of a second left. On that same play, Kamarad was fouled and went to the line where he made one of two to bring the score to its final margin of four points, 82-78.
The Wonder Boys will now prepare for a lengthy four-game road swing starting this coming Thursday at Harding. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. from Searcy.
