Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, MO. – Arkansas Tech rallied from a 19-point first half deficit to post a 77-74 double overtime victory over the University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team on Friday afternoon in the opening game of the Drury Classic.

The Wonderboys, which improve to 1-1 on the season, outscored the Tritons, 12-9, in the second overtime after using a 7-2 run in the final 42 seconds of the first OT to force an extra five minutes of play.

UMSL, which held a 38-19 lead late in the first half, was just 4-of20 from the field in the second half after connecting at a 57.1 percent clip in the first 20 minutes. UMSL slips to 3-1 and will close out tournament action tomorrow against Central Oklahoma at 1 p.m.

Senior Joshua McCoy record career-highs of 28 points and 10 rebounds to pace UMSL, while junior Michael Weber finished with 14 points and three assists. Arkansas Tech received 19 points from reserve Will Paul as the Wonderboys outscored the Tritons, 58-11, in bench points.

UMSL scored the first five points of the overtime period, taking a 57-52 lead before four straight from Arkansas Tech made it 57-56 with 3:11 to play. But back-to-back baskets by Weber and senior Charlie Woods put the Tritons back up by five at 61-56 with 1:22 to play.

After a pair of Tech free throws, Weber connected on a pair of his own, making it 63-58 with 52 seconds to go. Arkansas Tech then connected with a bucket before Weber went back to the line, making the first of two. A Wonderboys three-pointer with 29 seconds to go made it 64-63 and after McCoy made one of two free throws, Bobby Hatchett sent the game to a second overtime with a layup with six seconds to play.

The Tritons finished the game shooting 40.4 percent, and held a 44-41 rebounding advantage, while Arkansas Tech was 42.4 percent from the floor. Woods also pulled down 10 boards.

UMSL committed a season-high 20 turnovers, while Arkansas Tech took advantage, outscoring the Tritons, 26-16, in points off turnovers.

The Tritons raced out to an 8-0 lead to open the game, which included five points from McCoy. UMSL connected on four of its first six field goal attempts, including a jumper from McCoy at the 15:47 mark, which made it 11-4. Arkansas Tech then used a 6-2 run to pull within 13-10 with 13:17 to play before a 13-3 run pushed the Tritons advantage to 27-13 with 9:38 to play.

The Wonderboys later used back-to-back buckets to trim the deficit to 29-17 with 6:06 to play before another UMSL run extended the lead to 38-19 with 2:08 remaining. Arkansas Tech answered with seven straight to pull within 38-26 with 13 seconds to go before the break.

The Tritons took a 39-26 lead into halftime aided by 60 percent shooting (6-of-10) from three-point range.

The Wonderboys opened the second half with six straight points to fuel a 14-5 run to open the second half, trimming the deficit to 44-40 with 13:27 to play. Arkansas Tech then went next 5:06 without a field goal and UMSL was able to push its lead back to 48-40 with 9:40 to play on an Isiah Nunn bucket.

However, a pair of baskets by Tech within a 15 second span trimmed the Wonderboys deficit to 48-46 and spurred an 11-2 run to give Tech its first lead at 51-50 with a three-pointer at 4:27.