SHAWNEE, Okla. – The Arkansas Tech men's basketball team fell on the road at Oklahoma Baptist, 69-59, on Saturday afternoon.
The game was really a tale of two halves as the Wonder Boys put forth a solid first half, leading by as much as nine points, and carrying a six-point lead into halftime.
Offensively during that first half, the Wonder Boys shot 46% overall (13-of-28) and were 4-of-9 from three-point range as well as 5-of-7 from the free throw line. On the defensive side, they limited Oklahoma Baptist to 29 points of 35% shooting overall (11-of-31) from the floor which included just 3-of-11 from three.
The second half, however, played out much different as the Bison hit their stride offensively and shot 56% overall from the floor (15-of-27) while holding Tech to just 30% shooting overall (9-of-30).
At the 15:38 mark of the second half, the Bison grabbed their first lead of the game since the 17:25 mark of the first half. The game would be closely played over the next eight and a half minutes or so as there were three tie scores and two lead changes while the largest lead for either team was just four points.
With the score tied at 54-all, Oklahoma Baptist took the lead at the 6:56 mark and did not look back as that go-ahead basket sparked an 8-0 run over a two-and-a-half-minute stretch. The Wonder Boy were finally able to snap a five-minute scoring drought to get back to within six points, but the Bison would go on to close out the game on a 7-3 run to give them the 10-point win.
The Wonder Boys had one player score in double figures and were led by
Cassius Brooks and his 22 points. Three other players were just a point off double digits as
Seybian Sims,
Braden Tanner and
Jakob Zenon each scored nine points.
The Wonder Boys will now prepare to return home where they will play five of their final six regular season games. First among those is this coming Thursday night against Harding. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
