Monday’s game marked the head coaching debut of Wonder Boys first-year coach Doug Karleskint. Karleskint was named the 21st Wonder Boys head coach last April after spending the 2009-10 season as an assistant on former coach Mark Downey’s staff.
With Monday’s win, Karleskint becomes the school’s first men’s basketball coach to win his coaching debut with the Wonder Boys since Marty Barnes collected a 103-93 over Philander Smith in his Tech debut in 1987.
The 114 points marks the second straight season the Wonder Boy have topped the century mark to open a season as Tech scored 106 points in last season’s opener against OCC. In addition, it is the most points scored in a season opener in the program’s 88 year history.
In the win, Tech had seven players reach double figures, including junior Johnie Davis (Canton, Ohio), a transfer from Gulf Coast Community College, leading the way with 22 points. In addition, 12 of the 13 players that saw action scored in the game.
“I lot we got a lot of great effort from a lot of guys tonight,” Karleskint said following the game. “I’ll take that effort on a nightly basis from this group of players.”
Davis wasn’t the only newcomer that had an impressive debut as freshman guard Ricky Allen (Little Rock, Ark.), who prepped at McClellan High School, poured in 14 points, dished out five assists and had five steals for the Wonder Boys in 13 minutes of action.
“Ricky brought a lot of energy off the bench and really filled up the stat sheet,” the first-year Tech coach added.
One area that Karleskint was concerned with heading into Monday’s opener was taking care of the basketball and in the win over OCC, the Wonder Boys committed just eight turnovers and had a nearly 3-to-1 assist to turnover ratio. Tech finished the game with 26 assists on 44 made baskets.
“We had not being doing a good job in practice taking care of the ball, but tonight we took great care of the ball,” Karleskint said. “I’m really pleased with just eight turnovers.”
Tech scored the game’s first 12 points and led 24-8 just a little over seven minutes into the contest, when the Ambassadors used an 8-4 run to pull within 28-16 following a three-pointer from Justin Crain with 10:06 left in the first half.
That would be as close as OCC (0-3 on the season) would get the rest of the night as Tech closed the half on a 25-6 run to go into halftime with a 53-22 lead. In fact, Tech held OCC scoreless the final six minutes of the half.
“I liked our defensive intensity most of the night. We were able to hold them under 39 percent shooting, but we also got lazy at times on defense,” the Tech coach said. “Overall, I’d give us a ‘C’ grade defensively.”
Tech’s defense forced 29 turnovers, including 16 in the first half and held a 39-2 edge in points off turnovers. In addition, Tech also held a 37-13 advantage in fast break points, thanks mostly to the turnovers by the Ambassadors.
The Wonder Boys opened the second half on an 18-11 run to push out to a 71-33 lead following a fast-break lay-up by senior forward Ridas Pulkauninkas (Ukmerge, Lithuania), who is a transfer from Mercer University. Tech hit the century mark on a three-pointer by Pulkauninkas with 5:01 left in the game.
In addition to Davis and Allen, junior guard Matt Haney (Dardanelle, Ark.), one of the team’s seven returners from last season’ school-record 30-win squad, added 13 points in his first career start. Senior forward James Causey (Tangipohoa, La.), senior center James Giles (New Brunswick, NJ), sophomore guard Jared Williamson (Russellville, Ark.) and senior guard Jeremy Dunbar (Niceville, Fla.) each scored 10 points in the win.
Along with his 10 points, Causey led the Wonder Boys with nine rebounds and had three steals, while Giles added seven boards. Tech finished the game with a 43-36 edge on the glass.
OCC was led by Drew Hanson, who scored 15 points, while Steven Tackett added nine points in the loss.
For the game, Tech shot 56 percent from the field and 39 percent (13-for-33) from long distance, while OCC shot 35 percent from the floor and 22 percent from the 3-point line.
Tech will have little time to savor Monday’s win as the Wonder Boys return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 17, when they travel to Springfield, Mo., for a showdown with Drury. Drury, who was first among teams receiving votes (22) in the Preseason NABC/Division II Coaches’ Poll, opened its season this past Saturday with an 88-69 win over Upper Iowa. Tip-off for Wednesday’s game is set for 7 p.m. in Drury’s brand-new $13.5 million O’Reilly Family Event Center. Last season, Tech collected a 68-63 win over the Panthers in Russellville.
“Drury wants to get us back for our win last season. They have a great program and an impressive team this year,” Karleskint said. “They will provide us with a major test.”
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