Marcus Pillow took control late for Arkansas Tech and kept the nationally fifth-ranked Wonder Boys undefeated with a 65-54 win over Northeastern State at Jack Dobbins Field House in Tahlequah, Okla., on Monday night.
Pillow (photographed), who had been scoreless up to that point, scored 10 straight Arkansas Tech points to give the Wonder Boys a 57-50 lead with 5:13 to play.
Dominic Gaines recorded a four-point play for Northeastern State to cut Tech’s advantage to 57-54 at the 3:44 mark, but those proved to be the RiverHawks’ final four points of the night.
Jeremy Dunbar drove to the basket for two points, Renard Allen hit two free throws and James Causey made a steal and slam dunk to give the Wonder Boys an insurmountable 63-54 lead with 59.8 seconds left.
Arkansas Tech (12-0), which ranks sixth in NCAA Division II with 10.4 3-pointers per game, was 0-for-5 from beyond the arc in the first half.
The Wonder Boys were 5-of-11 from 3-point range in the second half as they overcame a halftime deficit for a second straight game. NSU led 25-24 at the intermission.
Dunbar led the Wonder Boys with 11 points. Pillow, Allen, Brandon Friedel and Irvin Humphrey had 10 points apiece.
NSU’s Marlon Burnett led all scorers with 18 points. The RiverHawks fell to 6-5 with the loss.
With the win, Arkansas Tech maintained its distinction as being the only NCAA Division II or NCAA Division I member to have both its men’s and women’s basketball teams undefeated for the 2009-10 season. Tech’s women are also 12-0.
The Wonder Boys will host Champion Baptist at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Tucker Coliseum in their final non-conference game of the regular season.
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