Isaac Ragland watched his short-handed Arkansas Tech men's basketball teammates suffer from exhaustion during the final minutes of Thursday night's 70-66 loss at Southeastern Oklahoma State. .
He knew it was time to seek an opportunity to help them.
“Thursday night, after the team meeting and postgame video session, Isaac sat me down,” ATU men's basketball head coach Mark Downey said. “He sat there and said, I won't repeat it, but in a nutshell, 'I'm a dog.' He said, 'I promise I am…I promise I am.' I did. I know I'm not defending very well, but no one is defending well at the end of the game because I'm tired right now. I can go out there and give you something. I told him, okay, I'm going to take the shot. ”
Less than 48 hours later, Ragland, playing for the fourth time this season, had already scored seven points — all season — when he caught the ball at the top of the key with less than 90 seconds left. The Wonder Boys outscored East Central University, 79-77, four more points than they had scored previously.
Ragland dribbled behind him, carried it to the right side and hit a fadeaway 3-pointer to take the lead. And I'd be damned if it didn't come in.
How did this happen? That's all I could say.
The Oklahoma National Guard wouldn't have been able to stop Arkansas Tech from there. The Wonder Boys (15-5 overall, 11-3 Great American Conference) overcame an 18-point second-half deficit to defeat ECU behind Terron Peter's 26 points and Cade Shafer's school-record 16 assists. They defeated them 84-79 and maintained their position. With four weeks left in the regular season, they have secured a share of first place in the GAC standings.
“He's what he says he is,” Downey said of Ragland, a Valley Springs junior who sat out the 2022-23 season and returned to the Arkansas Tech roster this season. “Sometimes you find those things in the heat of the moment of a game like that. (Ragland) played a lot of summer basketball for Marty Barnes. Marty Barnes is a tough guy. But he was preparing (Ragland) for today.”
ATU's men's team will host Southern Nazarene University (9-10, 6-8) on Thursday, February 8th at 7:30 p.m. and Oklahoma Baptist University (10-10, 7-7) on Saturday, February 10th at 3:30 p.m. 7) Host. Tucker Coliseum in Russellville.
“This is a fun group to watch,” Downey said. “They're great kids. There's a lot of local kids. Come and watch this group play.”
The Arkansas Tech Golden Suns (9-9, 6-8) remain within the cut line for a GAC Tournament berth despite losing 0-2 to Oklahoma State last week.
ATU's women's team is tied for sixth in the GAC standings with four weeks left in the regular season. The top eight teams in the final league standings will advance to his GAC Tournament to be held March 7-10 at Fire Lake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma. The Golden Suns have appeared in each of his 12 GAC tournaments since the conference began competition in 2011-2012.
Three of the Suns' final eight regular-season games will be against top-five Southern Nazarene (20-0, 14-0) on Thursday, Feb. 8, at Tucker Coliseum at 5:30 p.m. ) will be playing against nationally ranked teams. .
“I liked the way our team played and we had some chances,” ATU women's basketball head coach Dave Wilbers said after Saturday's 65-62 loss to East Central. “Every little thing is so big. Missed free throws, intentional fouls, forced turnovers…those are the things that can really destroy a team. The rest of the way won't be easy. The end of the game. We have to do better.”
Tickets for the ATU doubleheader against Southern Nazarene on Thursday night and Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday afternoon are available at www.arkansastechsports.com/tickets.
Live coverage will be provided by KCJC 102.3 FM, www.arkansastechsports.com and the EAB Media Group app.
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Tech Tidbits is a column written by Sam Strasner, ATU Director of University Relations and radio play-by-play voice for ATU football and basketball.
