www.arkansastechsports.com will have the play-by-play description. The Wonder Boys are in the midst of their fifth 20-win season in the last six years. During that time frame, Arkansas Tech has won five regular season conference championships and three conference tournament titles while making five appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament. A fourth league tournament title in the last six years this weekend would assure the Wonder Boys of a sixth consecutive berth in the NCAA Tournament. This season marks the first year that the GAC Tournament champion will earn an automatic bid into the 64-team field for the national tournament. Arkansas Tech is in position to return to March Madness despite the fact that it does not have a single player ranked among the top 15 scorers in the GAC this season. “I could go on and on about the character of our guys,” said Tech head coach Doug Karleskint. “The level of unselfishness is incredible. That shows what type of guys we have.” The Wonder Boys won nine of their last 10 games during the regular season, including a 75-72 victory at East Central University on Saturday, March 1, that clinched the GAC regular season title outright. Arkansas Tech leads the GAC in scoring defense (67.3 points allowed per game) and field goal percentage defense (.413) this season. Southeastern Oklahoma State made it into the GAC Tournament with an 83-80 victory over Harding University on the final day of the regular season. The win allowed the Savage Storm to clinch the eighth and final berth in the postseason tournament and eliminated Ouachita Baptist University from having an opportunity to defend its 2013 GAC Tournament title. Southeastern ranks among the top three teams in the GAC in field goal percentage (.459), field goal percentage defense (.422) and rebound margin (+2.2 per game), but the Savage Storm ranks last in the conference in scoring offense (67.3 points per game) and turnover margin (-3.50 per game). SOSU senior forward Urald King ranks sixth in the GAC in scoring (16.9 points per game) and he leads the conference in rebounding (9.2 per game). Arkansas Tech and Southeastern Oklahoma State split two meetings during the 2013-14 regular season. Perimeter defense proved to be a key in both games. The Savage Storm held the Wonder Boys to 5-of-23 shooting from 3-point range in a 64-58 Southeastern victory at Durant, Okla., on Jan. 26. Arkansas Tech held the Savage Storm to 5-of-23 shooting from 3-point range in a 73-55 Wonder Boys’ victory at Russellville on Feb. 24. Arkansas Tech junior forward Marshawn Arnold averaged 20.5 points per game in the two match-ups with Southeastern Oklahoma State. The GAC Tournament will continue through Sunday, March 9, in Bartlesville, Okla. Access the 2014 GAC Tournament bracket.]]>
