WONDER BOYS SUFFER HEARTBREAKING ROAD LOSS AT
ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO

        MONTICELLO, Arkansas – Arkansas Tech Men’s Basketball saw its chances for a berth in the Gulf South Conference Tournament severely dented here Saturday as the Wonder Boys fell 56-55 to Arkansas-Monticello in GSC action at Steelman Fieldhouse on the UAM campus.

With its loss and UAM’s win, the Wonder Boys moved into a three-way tie for fourth place with UAM and Delta State in the GSC West Division standings with 7-5 marks. In addition, UAM holds the tiebreaker over Tech should the two teams tie at the end of the regular season thanks to collecting two victories this season over the Wonder Boys.

Tech, who fell to 16-9 overall, was seeking to avenge an earlier 67-64 loss at home to the Boll Weevils, but suffered the loss following a driving lay-up by UAM’s Duke Sturdivant with eight ticks left on the game clock. It was the second time this season that Sturdivant beat Tech as he hit the winning three-pointer with four seconds remaining in the game at Tucker Coliseum.

“They (UAM) were simply tougher than we were tonight,” Wonder Boys Head Coach Mark Downey said following the game. “They went to the glass hard. There is nothing worse than getting out toughed, and tonight we were out toughed.”

Sturdivant’s lay-up completed an 8-2 run for the Boll Weevils over the final five minutes of the game. During the run, Tech’s only basket came on a short jumper by junior guard Jamar Flowers (White Castle, La.) with 1:14 left in the game. Sturdivant’s winning shot was set-up after junior guard Chad Henderson (Memphis, Tenn.) missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw attempt with 18 seconds remaining.

Following Sturdivant’s winning lay-up, Tech drove the length of the floor and appeared headed for the win when D’Angelo Dean blocked senior guard Darren Tarver’s (Akron, Ohio) shot right before the buzzer.

“We didn’t execute very well offensively at the end of the game,” Downey added. “But I thought our defense gave a great effort for 40 minutes.”

Prior to Henderson’s missed free throw, UAM pulled within 55-54 on a dunk by Raymond Wright which came after its 15th and final offensive rebound for the game.

On the night, UAM, who leads the GSC and is fifth in NCAA Division II in rebound margin at 8.8 boards per game, outrebounded Tech, 37-34, including holding a 17-12 edge on the glass in the second half. The Boll Weevils grabbed nine offensive boards in the second half and held a 15-14 edge in second chance points for the game.

“UAM scored most of their points in the second half off of free throws and offensive rebounds,” the second-year Tech coach said. “They made free throws and crashed the offensive boards.”

UAM needed every one of its offensive boards and free throws as the Boll Weevils shot 36 percent from the field for the game and 25 percent (4-for-16) from the 3-point line, but was 12-for-16 (75 percent) at the line. Meanwhile, Tech also struggled offensively as they were held to 55 points and finished the game shooting 35 percent from the floor and 36 percent (5-for-14) from downtown, but was 16-for-21 (76 percent) at the line, including being 7-for-10 in the second half. Tech entered the game shooting 61 percent from the free throw line on the season.

Tarver, who had missed the previous five games due to a swollen knee, led the way for Tech with 14 points, while Flowers added 12 points in the loss. Junior forward Troy Marcus (Bronx, NY) and Henderson each scored eight points and Marcus pulled down a team-high eight boards.

Wright led UAM with 15 points and added 11 rebounds, while Justin Johnson added 10 points and Dean pulled down a game-high 12 boards to go with his nine points.

In the first half, UAM sprinted out to a 9-1 lead just six minutes into the game, but Tech used a 12-3 run to take a 13-12 lead with 9:53 remaining in the half. Tech’s run was capped by a basket from Tarver. Following Tarver’s basket, neither team would lead by more than two points the rest of the half as Tech went into halftime with a 27-25 lead thanks to two Tarver free throws with three seconds remaining.

The Wonder Boys will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 28, when they welcome Delta State to Tucker Coliseum for a 7:30 match-up. The Statesmen collected an 88-84 win over the Wonder Boys in Cleveland, Miss., on Jan. 31.

“Our backs are now against the wall, we need to win on Thursday, and quite possibly also win on Saturday to make the tournament,” the Tech coach said. “We still control our destiny, but it is a little tougher now since UAM has swept us.”

          Arkansas-Monticello Box Score       

-- Tech Athletics --