ALVA, Okla. – The Arkansas Tech men's basketball team capped off their final regular season road trip to Oklahoma on a high note as they beat Northwestern Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon by a score of 70-63.
The win is the fifth-straight for the Wonder Boys and 20
th of the season. It marks the first time since the 2016-17 season that the program has reached the 20-win milestone. The win also keeps the Wonder Boys in the hunt for at least a share of the regular season conference championship as they remain one game back of first place, now with two more games to go.
Against Northwestern Oklahoma, the Wonder Boys held the early advantage leading until the 10:31 mark of the first half. Prior to losing their lead, the Wonder Boys were up by as many as eight points at the 12:57 mark.
After taking their first lead of the game, the Rangers built it out as large as five points by the 8:57 mark. A mini personal 5-0 scoring run by
Cassius Brooks, however, erased that deficit and tied the game at 22-all with just under eight minutes left in the half.
The rest of the first half was tightly contested with three lead changes and two tie scores. The final of those first-hald lead changes came right at the end and went in favor of Tech as
Tommy Kamarad made a layup off an assist by
Taelon Peter.
While that two-point lead might have seemed not significant in the moment, the way the season has played out for Tech thus far, grabbing that lead was likely to lead to a positive result as the Wonder Boys were 15-0 overall and 11-0 in conference play when leading at the half.
Quickly out of the locker room, the Wonder Boys started hot with a quick 5-0 burst courtesy of a dunk and three-pointer from Peter over the first minute and a half of play in the second half.
That hot start was able to be sustained by the Wonder Boys throughout the remainder of the game as they kept the Rangers at a comfortable distance before eventually ending with a seven-point victory.
Statistically, the Wonder Boys had two players score in double figures and were led by Peter and his 28 points. It was the 15
th game this season that Peter has scored at least 20 points in a game. Peter also added nine rebounds and five assists. Behind him in scoring was Brooks, who added 16 points.
The Wonder Boys will now prepare for their final home game of the season this coming Thursday against Henderson State. Tip-off against the Reddies is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. from Tucker Coliseum.
