Defense was the difference for the Arkansas Tech University basketball teams during a pair of pre-Thanksgiving wins.
The Arkansas Tech Golden Suns (4-0) held the Delta State Lady Statesmen without a made field goal for almost five minutes down the stretch on Tuesday to emerge with a 77-75 victory over their old rival from the Gulf South Conference.
“I think we just locked down on them a little bit,” said Dave Wilbers, ATU head women’s basketball coach. “We blew some assignments earlier, but credit Delta State…they hit some big shots. They’re a very good 3-point shooting team…probably the best 3-point shooting team we’ve played so far. We knew our assignments and got out on them. We needed a good game like this to learn about ourselves. We made some good plays and good free throws down the stretch.”
The Golden Suns are 4-0 for the first time since the pandemic-shortened season of the 2020-21 academic year. Others have shown the ability to take the lead as the 2025-26 campaign goes on, but at the moment, the Suns are driven by the competitive fire of sophomore forward Dessie Lancaster — who scored 12 second-quarter points on Tuesday to help ATU overcome a slow start against DSU — and the talent and uncommon basketball IQ of freshmen Shalyn Lyle and Logan Young.
Arkansas Tech’s women will need all of that and much more during the 22-game Great American Conference schedule they will begin on Thursday, Dec. 4, with a 5:30 p.m. home game against Northwestern Oklahoma State University.
As of Thanksgiving, GAC women’s basketball teams were 38-13 in non-conference play. The league’s .745 women’s basketball winning percentage out of conference is the best of any NCAA Division II league this season.
“I’ve watched a lot of the teams already on tape, and this league is as balanced as any time I’ve ever seen it,” said Wilbers. “Every team is good, and every team can beat anybody on a given night. You could lose four or five games and not be out of it this year because teams are going to beat each other. There’s a lot of new talent in the league this year, like our basketball team, and there are going to be 22 tough games. It’s going to be a marathon.”
The Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys needed a win on Thanksgiving eve, and they got one by forcing the Northeastern State RiverHawks into seven turnovers and limiting to them to four made field goals over the first 16 minutes of the second half.
As a result, the Wonder Boys defeated NSU 65-60 to earn their first win of the season and improve to 10-1 in their last 11 games against the RiverHawks.
“I told these guys this was one of those games where if we just do what we ask you to do, we can really guard them,” said Mark Downey, ATU head men’s basketball coach. “We have length. We knew these guys really well. We’re capable of defending, but trying to get that first win we were playing timid. We’ll get there. Defense showed up tonight, and we’re going to need it for the rest of the year.”
With only one returning player from last season, ATU’s men are very much a work in progress. Less than 48 hours after the win over Northeastern State, the Wonder Boys dropped a 90-72 decision at Missouri Western State University. Arkansas Tech’s men are 1-4 entering their GAC opener against Northwestern Oklahoma State at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4.
“This was a big step…this was a really big step,” said Downey after the win over NSU. “Just getting a win and letting them taste that…and maybe start believing in what we’re doing. We’re a long way away, but we’re a lot further than we were two months ago. I still don’t know what I’m going to get every day. We’ve just got to understand that it is every day, and you play like you practice. Once this group figures that out, they have a chance to be pretty special.”
Live coverage of the ATU-NWOSU doubleheader will be provided by KCJC 102.3 FM, the EAB Media Group app and www.arkansastechsports.com beginning at 5:15 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4.
Talk to you on the radio.
Tech Tidbits is a column written by Sam Strasner, ATU director of university relations and radio play-by-play voice for ATU football and basketball.
