RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – A blistering first half propelled the Arkansas Tech men's basketball team to a convincing 77-58 win at home against Northwestern Oklahoma on Thursday night to open up Great American Conference play.
In that first half, the Wonder Boys were sizzling on offense shooting 67.9% overall from the floor (19-of-28). They were even more efficient from three-point range, hitting on 7-of-9 attempts for a 77.8% success rate.
While the offense was rolling, the Wonder Boys' defense allowed the score to really separate as they held NWOSU to under 40% shooting overall (11-of-28) in the first half and 1-of-8 (12.5%) from three-point range. The Rangers did themselves no favors from the free throw line, shooting 2-of-9 (22.2%) in the first half.
The combination of Tech's offensive productivity and NWOSU's cold output, the Wonder Boys were able to get the lead to double digits by the 11:28 mark of the first half and built it out as high as 26 points before taking a 23-point lead into the locker room.
The lead would remain comfortably in the 20s for the Wonder Boys throughout almost all of the second half. The only time the Rangers managed to get the deficit under 20 points came on their final bucket of the game with 15 seconds left on the game clock. That basket brought the score to its final of 77-58, a margin of 19 points.
Statistically, the Wonder Boys had three players score in double figures, but the overall scoring was so well distributed that there were three others with at least eight points scored.
Aiden Underdown and
Sam Bradford led the way with 14 points each. For Underdown, that represented a career-high in scoring.
Damon Augustus was the third and final player in double digits as he had 11 points in 16 minutes off the bench. That was also a career-high for Augustus.
The Wonder Boys will now prepare for a home game against Southwestern Oklahoma this coming Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.
