MAGNOLIA, Ark. – After winning their sixth-straight game at home on Thursday night and Southeastern Oklahoma's subsequent loss that same night, the Arkansas Tech men's basketball team could determine their own fate in regard to claiming at least a share of the 2023-24 Great American Conference Regular Season Championship with a win on the road at Southern Arkansas on Saturday.
With all of that in front of them, the Wonder Boys did not wilt under the pressure one bit, in fact, they used it a fuel and dominated Southern Arkansas, eventually beating the Muleriders, 94-83, to clinch the 22
nd regular season title in program history.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Southeastern Oklahoma won as well, resulting in a shared regular season championship with the Wonder Boys. With the two being tied atop the standings at 18-4 in league play, Southeastern comes away with the No. 1-seed in the upcoming GAC Men's Basketball Tournament by virtue of their advantage in the tie-breaker scenario with Tech and their 2-0 record against No. 3-seed Northwestern Oklahoma while the Wonder Boys went 1-1 with NWOSU.
As the No. 2-seed, the Wonder Boys will play No. 7-seed Harding in the opening round of the tournament on Thursday, March 7. Tip-off against the Bisons is scheduled for Noon at FireLake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
Against SAU on Saturday, the Wonder Boys scored the game's first points on a painted jumper by
Kade Shaffer on the initial possession and never looked back. By the 16-minute media timeout of the first half, the Wonder Boys had built up a double-digit lead and were by 18 points, 21-3, by the 14:06 mark.
The Wonder Boys would lead by as much as 19 points on a pair of occasions in the first half before carrying a 17-point lead into the locker room, 47-30.
In the second half, the Wonder Boys weathered a few comeback attempts by the Muleriders with the most serious seeing SAU cut the lead down to eight points with 6:24 left to play. On the ensuing possession, the Wonder Boys quickly pushed the lead back out to double-digits as
Taelon Peter split a double-team and buried an off-balance three-pointer from the left wing as the shot clock expired.
Peter then followed that up their next trip on offense with another three-pointer, further solidifying his case for conference player of the year.
The Wonder Boys would go on to hold a comfortable lead the rest of the way out and finished with an 11-point victory.
