An Arkansas Tech University flurry to start the second half sent the Wonder Boys to a 78-65 Great American Conference win over Henderson State University in men’s basketball at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville on Thursday night.
Arkansas Tech (14-11 overall, 9-10 GAC) quickly erased a 37-32 halftime deficit on back-to-back 3-pointers by Tyler Corley and Bryson Fletcher. It was the beginning of a 12-0 run that gave the Wonder Boys the lead for good at 44-37 with 15:46 remaining.
The Reddies (6-18, 5-14) pulled within six points with four minutes to go, but a Freddy Lee 3-pointer for Tech at the 3:15 mark proved to be a dagger.
The Wonder Boys put it away by making 6-of-8 free throw tries over the final 1:26. It marked the seventh time this season that Tech has won after trailing at the intermission.
The victory allowed the Wonder Boys to remain inside the cut line for a potential berth in the GAC Tournament with three regular season games remaining.
“It wasn’t really pleasant at halftime,” said Arkansas Tech head coach Chad Kline. “This was one weird game. The key at halftime was we couldn’t panic. We hadn’t played great, but Henderson State had to win all of its remaining games (to qualify for the GAC Tournament), and they played like they were playing for their basketball lives. It always helps to get stops. We defended the high post and the 3-point line a lot better in the second half. We’d rather win ugly than lose pretty.”
Corley finished with 21 points and Andrew Guillory had 20 points for the Wonder Boys. DeChriston McKinney had 14 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Lee finished with 11 points. He was 3-of-5 from 3-point range.
Arkansas Tech made 13-of-26 shots from beyond the arc and out-rebounded the Reddies 35-24.
Zydrunas Jurgutis paced Henderson State with 14 points.
Arkansas Tech will play its final road game of the 2015-16 regular season when it faces the University of Arkansas-Monticello Boll Weevils at Steelman Fieldhouse in Monticello on Saturday, Feb. 20. Game time is set for 4 p.m.
Radio station KCJC 102.3 FM and www.arkansastechsports.com will have live coverage.