BARTLESVILLE, OKLA. – The East Central University men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker to Arkansas Tech in the 2015 Great American Conference Championship game, 77-80, at Bruin Fieldhouse.

Photo Gallery

The Tigers (21-10) were paced by junior Stirling Thomas, who tallied his first double-double of the year with 27 points and 10 rebounds.  Senior Henry Pwono added 16 points and nine boards, while redshirt sophomore Braxton Reeves added 12 points.  All three were honored as members of the 2015 GAC All-Tournament Team.

The first half was a back and forth battle, with the Tigers holding a lead for the majority of the stanza.  ECU pushed out to an early 17-7 lead in the first six minutes, but saw the Wonder Boys (18-13) use a 14-3 run over the next four minutes to take a brief 20-21 advantage.

With just under 10 minutes left in the half, the game was tied at 22, but the Tigers pushed back out to a 31-22 lead over the next 2:15.  ATU countered with a 9-2 run over the next four minutes to cut the deficit to two, but ECU kept the score in their favor for the rest of the half and went into the locker room leading 40-39.

The Tigers came out and put together a 5-0 run in the opening two minutes of the first half. However, ATU countered with a 17-4 run until the middle of the stanza to take a 49-56 advantage.  The Wonder Boys held on to the lead for the remainder of the half, pushing it out to as many as 11 (58-69), with five minutes to play.

However, the Tigers were not done fighting and went on a 17-7 run of their own until 16 seconds remained to cut the deficit to one (75-76).  The teams then traded points in the final minutes, with ATU hitting four free throws to help secure the 77-80 victory.

Notes: This was the first conference championship match for the Tigers since the 1996-97 season when they won the OIC title in their final season in the NAIA…redshirt sophomore Braxton Reeves set a new season record for made triples, with 100 and the best three-point field goal percentage of 44.2 (100-of-226)…he also helped the Tigers set a new team single-season record of 289…ECU also set a single-season record for the most assists, with 457.