WONDER BOYS DROP THIRD STRAIGHT GAME, FALLS AT HOME TO OUACHITA BAPTIST ON MARDI GRAS NIGHT

        RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – Arkansas Tech Men’s Basketball continued its struggles in Gulf South Conference play as the Wonder Boys dropped its third straight game, falling 70-65 here Saturday to Ouachita Baptist on Mardi Gras Night at Tucker Coliseum.

Tech, who fell to 13-7 overall and 4-3 in the GSC West Division standings, once again waited until the final three minutes to turn on the pressure as they came back from a 10-point deficit to pull within a point with 25 seconds left in the contest, but OBU sealed the win with four straight free throws.

Saturday’s ending was much like the ending of the Wonder Boys’ previous two games as Tech used an 18-5 run over the final three minutes of last Saturday’s 67-64 home loss to Arkansas-Monticello and then used a 7-2 in the final minute of Thursday’s 88-84 loss at Delta State.

“Once again, we need to find a way to play a complete game and stop waiting until the final three minutes of games to begin to play,” Wonder Boys Head Coach Mark Downey said. “I was proud of our team’s effort, we got out after it most of the night, but we need to channel that energy into playing the whole game the same way.”

Saturday’s game was back-and-forth most of the night as there were seven ties and 11 lead changes and neither team had a lead larger than 10 points.

Tech sprinted out to a 12-4 lead just six minutes into the contest, before OBU (12-6 overall, 5-2 GSC) used a 14-4 run to take a 16-14 lead with 8:46 remaining in the half. After a lay-up by junior forward Troy Marcus (Bronx, NY) forced the game’s second tie at 16, the Tigers used a 6-0 spurt capped by a three-point play from Ed Keyes to push out to a 22-16 lead with a little more than five minutes left before halftime.

Following Keyes’ three-point play, Tech used a 13-5 run to take a 29-27 lead with 46 seconds remaining in the half and appeared headed to halftime with the lead when Jaramino Marks drilled a three-pointer from the right side as the buzzer sounded to give OBU a 30-29 lead at the half.

Tech responded to OBU’s momentum in the opening three-plus minutes out of the locker room as they opened the second half on a 7-6 run to force the game’s fifth tie at 36. Following the tie, OBU used a 14-6 run over the next five minutes to push out to a 50-42 advantage.

Tech, though, responded as they used an 11-2 run keyed by consecutive points from junior guard Jamar Flowers (White Castle, La.) to take a 53-53 lead with 6:39 left in the game. The lead though was shortlived as OBU used a 14-3 run that was capped by back-to-back three-pointers from Memo Rodriguez and Antonio Benjamin to push out to a 66-56 lead with 3:08 left in the contest.

From the point, Tech caught fire as it outscored the Tigers, 9-0, to cut OBU’s lead to 66-65 with 25 seconds left in the game. During the run, Tech connected on 5-of-8 free throws. After freshman guard Laithe Massey (Heber Springs, Ark.) went 1-for-2 at the line with 25 seconds left, the Tigers closed the game’s scoring by hitting four free throws and surviving three missed shot attempts by the Wonder Boys.

“We laid it on the line the last three minutes of the game,” the second-year Tech coach said.

 Flowers led Tech with a game-high 16 points. It was Flowers’ fifth consecutive 16-point game. In addition to Flowers, Marcus added 12 points and six rebounds off the bench, while sophomore guard Renard Allen (New Orleans, La.) had 11 points in the loss. Meanwhile, OBU was paced offensively by Keyes’ 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Rodriguez and Rowan Ledbetter chipped in with 12 and 11 points respectively off the bench.

For the game, Tech shot 49 percent from the field, but was 0-for-6 from the 3-point line and struggled at the free throw line as they shot 13-for-26 (50 percent).

“We’ve tried everything in practice, from shooting a 150 a day to running on all missed attempts,” the Tech coach said. “I can’t explain why we’ve struggled at the line recently.”

OBU finished the night shooting 48 percent from the field, including shooting 52 percent from the field in the second half. In addition, the Tiger shot 50 percent from the 3-point line and 79 percent at line in the win, but committed 20 turnovers that led to 17 points for Tech and was outrebounded, 32-30.

“52 percent shooting in a half and 50 percent three-point shooting from an opponent is not acceptable,” Downey said. “We need to do a better job defensively.”

Tech will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 7, when they travel to Arkadelphia, Ark., to face Henderson State in an 8 p.m. contest at the Duke Wells Center. Tech collected a 77-65 win over the Reddies in its conference opener on Jan. 12 in Russellville.

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