Career nights from Alex Brown and Grant Prusator propelled Arkansas Tech University to a 103-92 non-conference men’s basketball win over Missouri Southern State University at the Leggett and Platt Athletic Center in Joplin, Mo., on Monday night.
Brown scored 32 points and Prusator notched 23 points as the Wonder Boys (5-2) won at Missouri Southern for the third time in 20 all-time road games against the Lions (8-3), who suffered their first home loss of 2016-17.
Arkansas Tech was 14-of-30 from 3-point range, including a combined 11-of-17 by the duo of Brown and Prusator.
“We knew we would have opportunities,” said Wonder Boys head coach Chad Kline. “We’ve had them the last couple of games and just haven’t knocked them down. They were really pressuring the basketball, but we knew if our point guards could drive and get downhill, they could kick it back out and we could play horse. I’m proud of the guys. Missouri Southern is good.”
There were six ties and nine lead changes in the first half, the last of which came on a buzzer-beating Trevin Woods 3-pointer that sent Arkansas Tech to halftime with a 48-46 lead.
Missouri Southern briefly claimed a two-point edge early in the second half, but Prusator responded with a 3-pointer to put the Wonder Boys back in front for good at 62-61 with 15:28 remaining.
Arkansas Tech pulled away with a 7-0 spurt over a span of less than 90 seconds late in the second half. A layup by Bennie Lufile, a 3-pointer by Prusator and two free throws from Justin Graham gave the Wonder Boys a 91-80 advantage with 4:18 to go.
Arkansas Tech remained steadfast in the face of full-court pressure from the Lions down the stretch and made 9-of-12 free throws over the final two minutes to earn its first road win of the season.
Freddy Lee had a season-high 14 points for the Wonder Boys. Graham finished with 11 points and a season-high 10 assists. Lufile had nine points and led all players with 13 rebounds.
CJ Carr had a team-high 21 points for Missouri Southern.
The Wonder Boys will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 31, when they host Missouri S&T for a 1 p.m. non-conference game at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville.
