Nationally fifth-ranked Arkansas Tech will return from a two-week break from game action tonight when the undefeated Wonder Boys visit Northeastern State University.
Tip-off at Jack Dobbins Field House in Tahlequah, Okla., is set for 7 p.m.
Russellville radio station KWKK 100.9 FM and www.athletics.atu.edu will have live play-by-play coverage.
Arkansas Tech (11-0) has not played since defeating Alabama-Huntsville 60-47 on Dec. 21.
The win sent the Wonder Boys into the holidays with an 11-game winning streak, which matches the eighth-longest in Tech men’s basketball history.
The Wonder Boys are off to their best start since the 1952-53 campaign, when they opened with 24 consecutive wins before falling to Indiana State in the second round of the 1953 NAIA National Tournament.
Northeastern State (6-4) will also be fresh from a two-week layoff tonight. The RiverHawks went into the break on a winning note by defeating Abilene Christian 73-69 on Dec. 21.
Jason Jones, a first team All-Lone Star Conference North Division selection last season, leads NSU in both scoring (17.2 points per game) and rebounding (9.1 per game).
The 6-foot-8 senior center from Cahors, France, had 15 points and six rebounds against Arkansas Tech when the two sides met in Tahlequah last season. The Wonder Boys won that game 75-53.
Tech has won each of its last three contests against Northeastern State. The RiverHawks’ last victory over the Wonder Boys was an 83-79 triumph in Tahlequah on Dec. 2, 2006.
Senior guard Brandon Friedel (17.9 points per game), senior guard Renard Allen (12.6 points per game) and junior forward Jeremy Dunbar (11.6 points per game) are Arkansas Tech’s top scorers so far this season.
The Wonder Boys will return home to host Champion Baptist at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
It will be the final non-conference game for Tech’s men. Arkansas Tech will begin Gulf South Conference play with a men’s and women’s doubleheader against Southern Arkansas at 4 and 6 p.m. on Saturday.
]]>
