RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – It certainly was not pretty at times, but the Arkansas Tech men's basketball team found a way to come away with a win on Thursday night at home against Henderson State as they beat the Reddies, 69-64.
The win improved the Wonder Boys to 21-6 overall on the season and 17-4 in the Great American Conference standings. By virtue of other happenings across the GAC on Thursday, namely Southeastern Oklahoma losing on the road in overtime at Oklahoma Baptist, the Wonder Boys will enter the final game of the regular season on Saturday tied for the lead in the league standings with Southeastern.
That final game of the regular season will take the Wonder Boys on the road where they will play Southern Arkansas in the hostile environment of the W.T. Watson Center in Magnolia. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 3 p.m.
In the game against Henderson on Thursday, it looked as though the Wonder Boys were going to be able to run away with things in the first half as they held a nine-point lead by the 10:51 mark, but a furious rally by the Reddies kept them in the game and eventually in the lead by the 6:16 mark.
Now trailing, the Wonder Boys flipped the lead in their favor one final time in the first half at the 4:17 mark on a three-pointer by
Kade Shaffer. Later in the half, Shaffer knocked down another three-pointer to put Tech up by five with less than 30 seconds left before halftime, but a three-pointer by the Reddies in the waning seconds made it a two-point game at the break, 37-35.
The Wonder Boys would keep that lead throughout most of the second half, but weren't able to extend it as Henderson kept hanging around. Eventually, that led to the Reddies taking a lead at the 4:13 mark on a successful two-shot trip to the free throw line.
Over the next two minutes or so of game time, the lead changed hands three times with the last of the exchanges going in favor of Tech on a clutch three-pointer by
Tommy Kamarad. The Wonder Boys would remain in the lead the rest of the way out, making good on 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch.
Statistically, the Wonder Boys had two players score in double figures with Kamarad leading the way with a season-high 22 points. Shaffer was next with 17 points.
