RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – A regulation 40 minutes was not enough to decide a winner between the Arkansas Tech and Southern Arkansas men's basketball teams. Even one overtime period was not enough as the Monday battle ended in double overtime with SAU outlasting Tech, 84-80.
A majority of the game was played extremely close and physical. In the first half alone, the lead changed hands six times, the score was tied four times and largest lead by either team was just six points. SAU was the beneficiary of the final lead change of the first half as they hit a three-pointer with 15 seconds left to take a 28-26 lead, a lead they would carry into the locker room.
The Muleriders then went to work on extending their lead in the second half and pushed out a high as nine points, 41-32, with 14:05 left in regulation. The Wonder Boys would get their feet under themselves at that point and went on a 10-2 run over the next three minutes of game time to make it a one-point game, 43-42.
During that run, the Wonder Boys got scoring from four different players as
Devin Foster hit a pair of free throws,
Connor Davis and
David Elliott IV knocking down three-pointers and
Sam Bradford making a layup.
Shortly thereafter, the Wonder Boys continued the run and took a 45-43 lead on a three-pointer from Davis at the 10:42 mark. Unfortunately, that lead was short-lived as SAU hit a three of their own the next trip down the floor, regaining the lead, 46-45.
The Muleriders then extended the lead out to seven points, 54-47, by the 6:19 mark. By the 5:18 mark, the Wonder Boys were back within two points thanks to a three-pointer from
Donyae May and a mid-range jumper from Elliott IV.
Once the game got to the under-four media timeout, tensions on both sides boiled over some as both coaches were assessed technical fouls.
Once cooler heads prevailed, the game went back to being a heavyweight battle.
SAU remained in the lead and were up by as much as five points, 61-56, with 2:29 left in regulation. The Wonder Boys would get within a point with 35 seconds left, but SAU made it a three-point game with 15 seconds left on a good layup.
Down to their final shot, the Wonder Boys got a clutch three-pointer from Elliott with time expiring in regulation, sending the game to overtime, 63-63.
The Wonder Boys were the first to score in the first overtime and outside of a pair of tie scores, held a lead over SAU. The lead was at its largest at three points, 70-67, with 2:56 left, but not long after that, SAU tied the score with a three-pointer.
After a block by Bradford, the Wonder Boys got a transition three from Foster to go back up by three, 73-70, this time with 1:44 left in the first overtime. SAU would then make three of their next four free throws on their next two possessions to tie the game at 73-all with 49 seconds on the clock.
The Wonder Boys stayed in the lead on their next trip down the floor with
Aiden Underdown making a layup at the 32-second mark. He was fouled on the play, but the lead remained two points as he was unable to convert the and-one. SAU was able to take advantage of that and scored the tying layup with six seconds left to send the game to a second overtime.
This time it was SAU that struck first in the second overtime period as they made a three-pointer at the 3:23 mark. That shot proved to be the winning basket for all intents and purposes as the Wonder Boys' offense ran out of steam, going 2-of-10 from the floor and 1-of-2 from the free throw line.
SAU did not favor much better in terms of shooting from the floor, going 2-of-6, but the three-pointer was key, as was them making four-straight free throws with the clock under 35 seconds to push their lead as high as eight points. Tech would close out the final 14 seconds of the game on a 4-0 burst to end with a four-point margin.
The Wonder Boys had five players score in double figures and were led by Elliott IV and his 17 points. Bradford was next with 15 points followed by May with 14. Underdown and Davis each had 13 points to round out double-figure scoring.
Tech will now prepare for a road game Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday night. Tip-off against UAM is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
