DURANT, Okla. – After a back-and-forth first half, the Arkansas Tech men's basketball team turned in a strong second half and ultimately pulled away from Southeastern Oklahoma for a 76-64 win on the road on Saturday afternoon.
That opening half of action saw the score be tied four times with the lead changing hands five times all while neither team held a lead larger than five points. The biggest flurry of the lead changes occurred under the three-minute mark and started with Southeastern completing a 5-0 burst to take a 29-28 lead as they hit a three, forced a turnover and layed it in on the other end.
Following a timeout by Tech, the Wonder Boys swung back in the lead on a three-pointer by
Cassius Brooks. Three made free throws later by Southeastern had given the Savage Storm a 32-31 lead with 1:43 to play in the first half. As the clock got under a minute,
Carlos Ramsey Jr. hit a painted jumper to put the Wonder Boys back in the lead. They would go on into the locker room with a three-point lead, 35-32, thanks to a pair of made free throws by
Kade Shaffer in the waning seconds.
In the second half, the Savage Storm wasted no time in tying the score on the initial possession and then the lead about a minute later with a pair of makes at the free throw line. That would be the biggest push that Southeastern was able to get in the game as a big three by Brooks at the 17:23 mark put the Wonder Boys back up for the final lead change of the night.
From there, the Wonder Boys would build on their lead and pushed it out to double digits for the first time at 8:35 mark on a three-pointer by
Jakob Zenon. The lead would peak at 15 points at the 5:09 mark on a three by
Braden Tanner. By the 2:46 mark, Southeastern was able to cut the deficit into single digits, but it was short-lived as the Wonder Boys once more pushed out as large as 15 points by 1:16 mark before ending with the 12-point margin of victory.
The Wonder Boys had two players score in double figures with Brooks leading the way with 22 on 8-of-13 shooting. Ramsey Jr. was next with 14 points. Three others had at least seven points. Perhaps the biggest eye-popping stat on the sheet were the 16 rebounds by
Kade Shaffer. An overall single-game for Shaffer, all but one were on the defensive end.
The Wonder Boys will now prepare for two more road games coming up this week. First, they will be on the road at Harding this coming Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
