ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech men's basketball team did their part in keeping the hopes of securing a spot in the upcoming Great American Basketball Tournament alive on Thursday night as they won on the road at Henderson State, 64-58.
The Wonder Boys also got the help they had to have as both Southern Arkansas and Southeastern Oklahoma lost on Thursday night. That now sets up a win-and-you're-in game on Saturday afternoon for Tech at home against Southern Arkansas, who they beat earlier this season. The Muleriders will be playing with the same stakes on the line as well.
The proverbial GAC Tournament play-in game that is coming to Tucker Coliseum on Saturday looked as if it might not come to fruition at all throughout the early portions of the Wonder Boys' game at Henderson.
After a closely-contested first 14 or so minutes of action, Henderson State went on an 11-1 run to turn a one-point deficit into a nine-point lead, 32-23, with just under four minutes left in the first half. The Reddies would continue to create separation down the stretch and pushed their lead out as high as 14 points, 39-25, with 2:12 left.
The Wonder Boys were able to close the half on a 5-0 burst to make it a nine-point deficit at the break, but not long into the second half, Henderson had gone back up by double digits.
Trailing by 12 points with 15:34 to go, the Wonder Boys flipped the script on the game and began to put together a 9-0 run over the next two minutes of action to suddenly trail by just three, 44-41, with 13:31 on the clock. The Reddies would break that run on a dunk the next trip down the court, but it did little to slow the Wonder Boys down as they went on score five unanswered points to tie the score at 46-all at the 12:09 mark.
Overall, the Wonder Boys had used a 14-2 run over a three-and-a-half-minute stretch of game time to for the first tie score since the 8: 38 mark of the first half.
The Reddies would not relinquish the lead at the moment, but finally lost it at the 8:03 mark on a tip-in layup by
Seybian Sims. The Wonder Boys would hold that lead through the eight-minute media timeout.
Coming out of that media, the lead changed hands on consecutive possessions as the Reddies and Wonder Boys traded points in the paint. The last of those lead changes went in favor of Tech on a layup by
Sean Cobb at the 6:18 mark and proved to be the final change of the game.
Cobb would go on to score two more layups down the stretch to keep Tech in the lead while 7-of-8 makes from the free throw line over the remainder of the game put the game away for the Wonder Boys.
The Wonder Boys had three players score in double figures and were led by
Cassius Brooks and his 22 points.
Braden Tanner was next with 14 points while Cobb scored 14 points himself off the bench. Brooks and Cobb also put in work on the glass as Cobb had nine while Brooks had eight.
Kade Shaffer also had a big game overall as he had eight points, 11 assists and five rebounds.
Tech will now head home to prepare for that win-and-you're-in game against Southern Arkansas on Saturday afternoon in Tucker Coliseum. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m., but the actual tip time might be later as there will be Senior Day ceremony immediately following the conclusion of the preceding Golden Suns' game.
