RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – SWOSU Men's Basketball suffered its third consecutive 'down to the wire' loss on Thursday, as MJ Warrior's buzzer-beating heave fell short, sealing a 71-68 loss to Arkansas Tech.

After one half of play, you couldn't separate the teams one bit, with the game tied 37-37 going into the locker room after Tech knocked down a tying three-pointer as time expired. Five lead changes and nine ties highlighted a tightly contested half where neither team could gain a significant advantage, with the Dawgs' largest lead being six points and the Wonder Boys' biggest margin being four. SWOSU found themselves shooting 14-25 (56%) for the half and 5-9 (55.6%) from deep. Eli Al-Debaran and Denali Alexander both went 2-2 from deep. Al-Debaran's 10 points and four assists led the way for SWOSU.

The second half mirrored the first for the initial 13 minutes, with neither team able to gain a significant advantage. However, SWOSU broke through with a 7-0 run, capped by a Tobias Roland three-pointer and an MJ Warrior and-one, to take an eight-point lead, 60-52, with just five minutes remaining. However, the Wonder Boys struck right back using an 11-2 run to give them 63-62 lead with just over two minutes to play.

With 19 seconds left, SWOSU trailed 69-66, but had the ball and a chance to tie or inch closer. MJ Warrior slipped while driving to the basket, resulting in a turnover that sent ATU to the free-throw line. A quick bucket by the Dawgs gave a glimmer of hope, but an eventual heave to tie at the buzzer missed the mark to end the game.

SWOSU shot 22-42 (52.4%) from the field and 7-15 (46.7%) from beyond the three-point line. The 42 shot attempts are the lowest mark of the season. Tech went 26-61 (42.6%) and 8-24 (33.3%) for the deep ball. The Bulldogs committed 16 turnovers to just nine for the Wonder Boys and allowed 13 offensive rebounds for a 16-4 advantage in second chance points for the home team.

Alexander led the way in scoring for the second straight game for SWOSU with 19 points going 11-14 from the foul line. Al-Debaran added 15 points and Warrior dished out eight assists.

SWOSU (8-10, 5-8 GAC) will look to get back to their winning ways in their last game of the current four game road trip when they travel to Searcy, Arkansas to face off with Harding on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 3:00 pm.