RUSSELLVILLE, ARK. – The UT Tyler men's basketball team relied on a strong defensive effort and effective three-point shooting to win on the road by a 56-49 final over Arkansas Tech.
 
The Patriots held Arkansas Tech scoreless for over five minutes late in the second half to extend what would end up being a 16-point lead with 1:56 left in the game thanks to four-straight unanswered three-point makes. UT Tyler made 10-of-24 (41.6 percent) from three-point range in the win to move to 2-0 on the season.
 
Senior Rashun Williams made two of those four key three-point shots for the Patriots on a 12-0 run that began with 6:02 remaining in the second half. That run extended a seven-point UT Tyler lead to 56-40, and effectively put the game out of reach with just 1:56 left on the clock.
 
Williams led the Patriots with 15 points on the night, connecting on 4-of-7 from three-point range. Senior Milan Szabo was effective once again for UT Tyler with eight points and a team-high eight rebounds, while junior Jordan Hairston chipped in nine points and three assists.
 
UT Tyler kept Arkansas Tech in check offensively throughout the game, limiting the Wonder Boys to just 34.5 percent (20-for-58) from the field and just three made shots from beyond the three-point line.
 
The Patriots overcame a slow start to the game for a second-straight night, flipping what was largely a first half in the favor of Arkansas Tech with three consecutive makes from three-point range to lead 25-22 with 2:57 left in the first half. Williams closed out the first 20 minutes of play with five points in the last minute of play to keep that advantage at 28-24 heading into the halftime break.
 
UT Tyler never relinquished the advantage in the second half of action and prevented Arkansas Tech from scoring a basket from the 6:57 mark all the way down to the 1:34 mark of the second half. Seniors Quinn Smith and Myja White connected on a pair of three-point makes sandwiched around two additional conversions from Williams from long range to produce that aforementioned 12-0 run for the Patriots.
 
Arkansas Tech cut the lead to it's eventual seven-point final with nine points from that point forward, but had no way of managing a comeback after the quality five-plus minute stretch for the Patriots leading up to that run.
 
UT Tyler won the rebounding battle 39-to-33 and blocked six shots to control the paint throughout the evening.
 
The Patriots will look to move to 3-0 on the year on Saturday afternoon in a 4 p.m. tip-off on the road against Northeastern State.