ADA – The East Central University men's basketball team picked up a 78-54 win over Arkansas Tech to move into second-place in the Great American Conference standings.

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The Tigers (17-8, 11-6 GAC) were paced by senior Henry Pwono with 23 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.  Junior Stirling Thomas added 14 points, seven boards and six assists.  Senior Brandon Lucas garnered 11 points and a season-best seven boards.

"Tonight's win was a really good team effort," said head coach Ja Havens.  "This is the best we have collectively defended and rebounded through for two halves all season.  I really liked how we responded in the second half and attacked the basket.  That combined with our 19 assists were keys to the win."

The Wonder Boys (12-13, 8-9 GAC) started the first half on a 4-0 run, but ECU quickly responded and made it a close contest.  The Tigers were the first team to pull away, using an 8-3 run in toward the middle of the half to push the lead out to nine (20-11).
ATU countered with a 7-2 run of its own over the next 3:30, which cut the deficit to four (22-18).  However, ECU added a 9-4 run in the final minutes of the half for a 31-22 lead.

The second half was an even battle for the first 12 minutes, with the Tigers holding between a nine and 14-point lead.  With around 8:30 minutes left, ECU made the final charge to push the advantage out to over 20 points.  The Tigers went on a 17-4 run until 3:19 remained and kept the momentum in their favor in the final minutes for the 78-54 victory.

Strong shooting across the court was key to the win for ECU, as they out-shot ATU 45.2 percent to 34.5 percent from the floor and 41.7 percent to 27.3 percent from beyond the arc.

The Tigers will face another challenge, Saturday, Feb. 21 when they host Harding at 3 p.m. in the Kerr Activities Center.  The Bison are just one spot below ECU in the GAC standings after a loss to Southern Nazarene tonight.