FORT SMITH, Ark. – The 2024-25 season for the Arkansas Tech men's basketball team came to an end on Thursday night in the opening round of the Great American Conference Tournament as the Wonder Boys lost to top-seeded Southern Nazarene, 60-47.
Much of the early action in the first half was closely contested, but the Wonder Boys were unable to grab a lead at any point. Despite that, the largest lead by the Crimson Storm in the first half was nine points and did not come until the 2:45 mark. The Wonder Boys would get within six of the lead on a couple of occasions in the waning moments of the half, but went into the locker room trailing by eight, 28-20.
The Wonder Boys scored the first points of the second half to make it a two-possession game again, but a 5-0 burst by SNU pushed their lead into double digits for the first time at 11. Trailing by that margin with under 12 minutes left, the Wonder Boys scored on consecutive possessions to get back within seven, but the Crimson Storm had the answer with a 9-0 run over the almost three minutes of action to swell their lead out to 16 points, 50-34, with 8:01 to go.
By the 6:13 mark, the SNU lead reached its apex of 19 points. The Wonder Boys would fight the rest of the way out and ended the game with a 13-point differential.
With the loss, the Wonder Boys career of
Cassius Brooks,
Sean Cobb,
Kade Shaffer and
Seybian Sims came to an end.
Brooks would end his two-years at Tech with over 900 points and a 15.8 scoring average. Cobb came on down the stretch for the Wonder Boys and scored in double figures over his final three games. Shaffer concluded his three-year stint with over 500 points scored, 94 three-pointers made and 283 assists. Sims was finally able to put together a healthy season on the court and played and started in all 29 games. He would finish as the team's second-leading scorer on the year.
