With seeding in the Great American Conference Tournament on the line, Arkansas Tech University’s R.J. Glasper put the Wonder Boys on his back in the regular season finale Saturday afternoon.
The redshirt freshman from Forrest City scored a career-high 37 points to carry Tech to an 88-73 victory over the University of Arkansas-Monticello Boll Weevils at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville.
With the win, the Wonder Boys (18-10 overall, 12-10 GAC) will play in the No. 4 vs. No. 5 seed first-round game at the GAC Tournament in Bartlesville, Okla., at noon on Friday, March 2.
UAM (17-11, 12-10) led by as many as 10 points in the first half and 37-34 at halftime, but Arkansas Tech made 70 percent of its field goal tries (21-of-30) in the second half. The Wonder Boys’ hot shooting after the intermission included a string of 11 consecutive makes midway through the half.
Glasper scored 27 of his 37 points in the second half, including a string of nine consecutive Wonder Boys’ points that allowed Tech to pull away for an 86-67 lead with 3:22 to go. Glasper also dished out eight assists.
Montrell Williams, the Wonder Boys’ lone senior, scored 17 points and collected seven rebounds in his final home game. Jerami Grace added 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the field. He was 4-of-4 from 3-point range.
Derylton Hill had 25 points and nine rebounds for the Boll Weevils.
Radio station KCJC 102.3 FM and www.arkansastechsports.com will provide live coverage of all Arkansas Tech games from the GAC Tournament.
