Box Score
Box Score (html)
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – An 18-4 run to start the second half provided Arkansas Tech with enough of a cushion to hang on and defeat SWOSU 85-77 on Thursday night at Tucker Coliseum. The loss is the first true road loss of the season for the Bulldogs, who were 7-0 in such games before Thursday.
Both teams played at a high level, but Arkansas Tech shot the ball very well, knocking down 25-of-50 (50.0%) field goals and eight three pointers in the game. A Bobby Hatchett 3-pointer with five seconds remaining in the opening half gave the Wonder Boys a 44-43 lead at the break that they would expand upon early in the second half.
That lead quickly bloomed to 62-47 after an 18-4 run that spanned the first 4:17 of the second half and left SWOSU fighting an uphill battle to finish out the game. The Bulldogs got within four at 81-77 on a
Rod Camphor three in the final minute, but ATU hit all four of their free throw attempts in the final 40 seconds to put the game away.
Camphor led the Bulldogs with 24 points and seven rebounds while playing 36 minutes while
Gary Inglett battled foul trouble in the second half but still finished with 17 points and five rebounds before fouling out.
Trent Washington had 13 points and
Kenyan Borders scored 10 and both players dished out a team-high five assists.
SWOSU hit 24-of-55 (43.6%) field goal attempts and knocked down 13 3-pointers, with all of them coming from their top four scorers. All five starters played at least 26 minutes for the Bulldogs, whose bench was outscored 24-6 by ATU's.
Hatchett had a huge game for the Wonder Boys, scoring a game-high 27 points, which included perfect 12-of-12 shooting from the free throw line. ATU improves to 13-7 (8-4 GAC) and moves within one-half game of the Bulldogs for second place in the conference standings.
"I'm extremely proud of our guys," SWOSU Head Coach
Bob Battisti said in his postgame interview. "I'm proud of the way they competed and fought. This was a high-level basketball game with both teams making shots and playing extremely hard. We struggled to stop their dribble penetration and played a little more zone, but they hit the shots they needed to win the game. Now we need to regroup and get ready to play again on Saturday against Harding.
SWOSU, losers of three of their last four games, falls to 12-7 (9-4 GAC) on the year and an East Central victory drops the Bulldogs out of their perch atop the GAC standings. The Bulldogs are back in action on Saturday at Harding, tipping off at 4:00 pm in Searcy, Ark.
