RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech men's basketball team got out of the gates slow offensively on Saturday afternoon at home against Southwestern Oklahoma but bounced back strong at the end of the first half and carried it over through the second half for a 65-60 win.
That slow start saw the Wonder Boys get down 10-2 before the under 16-minute media timeout, prompting a called timeout by the bench. Out of that timeout, the Wonder Boys began to settle in and got within three points of the lead, 10-7, in just over a minute of action.
By the 11:27 mark, the Wonder Boys tied the score and then took the lead on their ensuing possession. The lead was short-lived however as the Bulldogs answered right back with a three-pointer to take a one-point lead, 17-16, with 10:01 to go in the first half. SWOSU later built that lead out as high as 13 points with just under three minutes left on the clock.
Over the remainder of the first half, however, the Wonder Boys went on a momentum-shifting run 9-0 run to suddenly make it a four-point game at the break.
Donyae May was a major part of that run as he scored six of the nine points.
In the second half, the Bulldogs held on to the lead until the 15:07 mark when
Aiden Underdown had a layup to put the Wonder Boys up by a point, 38-37. Once more, however, that lead was not Tech's for long as SWOSU hit a three on their ensuing possession.
By the 11:53 mark, the Wonder Boys tied the score on a layup from
David Elliott IV and then by the 11:06 mark had the lead on a three-pointer from Elliott IV.
With Tech leading by a point, 47-46, at the 9:40 mark, the lead changed hands on consecutive possessions as both the Bulldogs and Wonder Boys hit three-pointers. The last of that sequence was a make from Elliott IV and gave the Wonder Boys a lead they would hold for the rest of the game.
The Wonder Boys were able to build out the lead as large as six points over the remainder of the game, but with the resilience of SWOSU, had to put the game away at the free throw line. And that's what they did.
Over the final three and a half minutes or so, the Wonder Boys went 10-of-10 from the charity stripe.
Devin Foster was a big part of that as he went 6-of-6 from the line and 4-of-4 on his two trips with under 10 seconds left.
With a balanced scoring effort, the Wonder Boys had four players in double figures and were led by Foster's 15 points. Elliott IV was next with 13 followed by
Connor Davis with 11. Underdown rounded out double-digit scoring with 10 points.
The Wonder Boys will now prepare for their annual screaming kids' game this coming Tuesday against Ecclesia College. Tip-off is scheduled for 11 a.m. and approximately 1,100 kids from area elementary schools will be in attendance.
