Arkansas Tech University held Oklahoma Baptist University without a made field goal for the final six minutes and the Wonder Boys extended their winning streak to six games with a 92-79 Great American Conference victory at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville on Saturday afternoon.
The Wonder Boys (15-4 overall, 11-4 GAC) outscored the Bison 14-2 over the final 5:50 to maintain a share of second place in the league standings with seven regular season games remaining.
“We finally got some stops,” said Arkansas Tech head coach Chad Kline. “To score 49 points in the first half and only be up by one is not acceptable. I know we’re not going to be great defensively, but we can’t be terrible. We had some guys step up and make some big plays down the stretch.”
Bennie Lufile and Alex Brown sparked the decisive run on the offensive end of the floor. Five straight points by Lufile staked the Wonder Boys to an 83-77 lead with 4:31 to go. Alex Brown followed with a 3-pointer and a slam dunk to increase the margin to 88-77 with 1:28 remaining.
A Justin Graham layup and a pair of Freddy Lee free throws in the final minute sealed the deal as Arkansas Tech won for the 12th time in its last 14 games and avenged a 93-87 loss to the Bison on Dec. 1.
Brown finished with 21 points, while Graham and Montrell Williams contributed 15 points apiece for the Wonder Boys. Graham also had seven rebounds, six assists and six steals.
Lufile notched 13 points and eight rebounds. Trevin Woods added 10 points.
Kevin Franceschi scored a game-high 28 points for Oklahoma Baptist (5-14, 2-13).
The Wonder Boys will entertain Southern Arkansas University for a 7:30 p.m. GAC contest at Tucker Coliseum on Thursday, Feb. 9.