Wonder Boys Rally, Fall Just Short in Shawnee

Oklahoma Baptist University held off a furious comeback bid by Arkansas Tech University to defeat the Wonder Boys 93-87 in Great American Conference men’s basketball at the Noble Complex in Shawnee, Okla., on Thursday night.

The Bison (2-3 overall, 1-2 GAC) led 52-45 at halftime and seemingly pulled away by outscoring Arkansas Tech 19-5 over the first 5:08 of the second half.

Trailing 71-50 with 14:52 left, the Wonder Boys (3-1, 2-1) proceeded to outscore Oklahoma Baptist 35-13 over the next 10 minutes and took their first lead of the night at 85-84 on a Bennie Lufile slam dunk with 4:43 left.

Another dunk — this one by Oklahoma Baptist’s Kevin Franceschi with 1:03 left — gave the Bison the lead for good at 89-87. OBU’s Steven Green followed with a 3-pointer with 33.7 seconds left that sealed the Wonder Boys’ fate.

Chandler Rickey had 25 points and Green finished with 24 points, 15 rebounds and five assists for the Bison.

Justin Graham scored a team-high 18 points for Arkansas Tech. Alex Brown and Lufile contributed 14 points apiece.

The Wonder Boys will conclude their two-game road trip to the Sooner State by facing Southern Nazarene University at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 3, in Bethany, Okla. Radio station KCJC 102.3 FM and www.arkansastechsports.com will provide live coverage.