BOX SCORE | BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Arkansas Tech set multiple offensive records as the Wonder Boys won a 95-83 shootout against fourth-seeded Southwestern Oklahoma State in Friday’s fourth Great American Conference Men’s Basketball Championship quarterfinal contest from Bruin Fieldhouse.
The Wonder Boys (16-13) set tournament single-game scoring and 3-point field goal records in the win. The 95 points and 19 3-point field goals broke records established by Harding in last March’s title game. The Savage Storm (15-14) hit 12 3-pointers to help set the combined record for 3-point fields, six more than the 25 made by the Bisons and Henderson State in the 2014 Final.
Five different Wonder Boys made multiple 3-point field goals, led by five from D.J. Jethroe. Jethroe, a 34 percent 3-point shooter, made 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. Mike Balogun made four, Clarence Willard and Tyler Friedel each made three and Jay Murphy connected on two. Jethroe led Tech with 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting. He added 10 rebounds for a double-double. As a team, Tech totaled 25 assists and committed only six turnovers
Southeastern Oklahoma State tried to match Arkansas Tech point for point. At the half, the Savage Storm trailed by only two and after falling down by as many as many as 16 midway through the second half, they pulled to within four, 82-78, with 3:20 remaining, but could not draw any closer.
Southeastern’s First-Team All-GAC guard Taylor Smaller scored 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Sami Bazi added a game-high 27 points. Both Bazi and Smaller connected on five 3-point field goals. The Savage Storm converted 18 offensive rebounds into a 27-9 advantage on second-chance points.
Thursday featured three lower-seeded teams –fifth-seeded Arkansas Tech, sixth-seeded Harding and eighth-seeded Southwestern Oklahoma State – all earn victories. In the four-year history of the GAC, lower-seeded teams own a 9-7 record in quarterfinal matches and a 13-12 across all tournament play.
Arkansas Tech advances to face Southwestern Oklahoma State in Saturday’s second semifinal contest, set for 8:00 PM on GACSportsNetwork.com. The Wonder Boys claimed a pair of 69-65 decisions against the Bulldogs.