Tech Pulls Ahead Late

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. ---  Fifth-ranked Arkansas Tech held Northeastern State scoreless in the final 3:44 to capture a 65-54 victory over the RiverHawks at Jack Dobbins Field House Monday night in a non-conference clash.

The Wonder Boys, who remain unbeaten at 12-0, had five players score in double figures with Jeremy Dunbar leading the scoring with 11 points as the Wonder Boys held Northeastern State to a 28 percent shooting performance.

Northeastern shot 14-of-50 from the field including just 4-of-20 from behind the arc. Marlon Burnett led NSU's scoring with 18 points with Jason Jones collecting his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Dominique Gaines scored 12 points for the RiverHawks as they fall to 6-5 for the season.

"I told our team I'm proud of the effort that they gave, and the determination that they gave but our execution wasn't high enough," said Northeastern State head coach Larry Gipson.
"Our execution wasn't high enough under pressure and we've got to understand that. Hopefully we can learn from this and improve on this. I don't think the margin (of victory) was indicative of how close this game was.

"We came down the stretch in the last three minutes; miss a layup, two open threes. Those have to go in if you want to compete successfully," said Gipson, "You just can't make those kind of mistakes."

The RiverHawks held a 25-24 lead at the intermission despite shooting just 28 percent in the opening 20 minutes of play (8-of-20) as Burnett led the way with 10 of his game-high 18 points.

The two clubs exchanged the lead five times in the opening five minutes of the second half, before the Wonder Boys stretched its lead to four points 39-35 on a 3-point shot by Brandon Friedel  with 14:38 left in the game.

The RiverHawks knotted the game at 40-all on a Jones bucket with 12:45 remaining and it became a back-and-forth battle over the next two minutes before Arkansas Tech took a 4-point lead 47-43 with 10-minutes left.

Northeastern State tied the game once again on four consecutive free throws, all by Burnett at the 8:22 mark. That would be the closest the RiverHawks would come the remainder of the way as Arkansas Tech took the lead for good on a pair of free throws by Marcus Pillow with 9:31 remaining.

The Wonder Boys increased its lead to six points, as NSU managed to scored just seven points in the final 6:58 and went scoreless in the final 3:44

Trailing 57-50 with 3:44 remaining in the contest, Gaines drained a 3-point shot from the right wing and was fouled by the Wonder Boys' Dunbar. Gaines drained the free throw for the 4-point play, cutting the Arkansas Tech lead to 57-54, but NSU went scoreless the remainder of the game.

Arkansas Tech's bench out-scored the RiverHawks bench 20-0 in the game which Gipson said "That was very disappointing. Two of the guys that came off the bench missed wide open shots. We've got to make those.

"Overall we have a positive outlook and we can build on this, because few get back in the fire in two days. We've got to get ready to go," said Gipson.

The RiverHawks return to Lone Star Conference play Thursday night at Jack Dobbins Field House when they play host to West Texas A&M in crossover action. Tip-off is 8 p.m.