box score
AUSTIN – The tension continued to build for the University of Texas of the Permian Basin men's basketball team in its game against St. Edward's University. After playing 25 games throughout the season, none was bigger than this one.
At stake for the Falcons was a possible first in school history – a share of the Heartland Conference regular season championship, as well as a No. 1 seed in the upcoming post season tournament.
Elijah Jordan made both happen as he hit a half court buzzer beater in double overtime to give UTPB a 96-95 win over the Hilltoppers.
The Falcon win coupled with a Texas A&M International loss to St. Mary's gave UTPB its share of the conference title. The Falcons and Dustdevils both share 8-4 league marks, but UTPB's sweep over Dallas Baptist and St. Mary's earlier this season gives it the tie-break and the No. 1 seed in the Heartland Conference Tournament. The winner of the post season tournament earns a berth in the NCAA Division II National Tournament.
It looked grim for the Falcons early in the game as they scored just eight points in the first 10:26 of the game.
Dwayne Soders finally put UTPB in double-figures after making a layup with 9:34 to go before the half. Lucky for the Falcons, St. Edward's wasn't exactly on fire either as they led 18-10.
The offensive woes would continue for UTPB, but the Hilltoppers used a 17-8 run to lead 35-18 with 2:11 to go before the break. Luckily for the Falcons, they would score the last six points of the half, but still trailed 35-24 at the end of the first half.
St. Edward's would continue to hold a double digit lead with 15:29 to go before UTPB started to chip away. A three-pointer by
Jamal Holden, who finished with a career-high 34 points, drained one of his four three-pointers to pull the Falcons within six (50-44) with 12:51 to go.
The teams exchanged buckets and the Falcons pulled within two on two different occasions until finally tying the game at 66 with 1:41 to go after Holden drained another three. Neither team would score until Jeff Miner gave the Hilltoppers a 68-66 edge with 15 seconds to play. Holden came up big once again as he converted a driving layup with two seconds left to force overtime.
In the overtime period Miner gave St. Edward's a 79-75 lead after hitting his only three-pointer of the game with 1:19 left. Not to be outdone, Holden, who has been the team leader the entire season, drained four free throws, including two to tie the game at 79 with 26 seconds to go.
The last five seconds saw the Hilltoppers miss a jumper and two tip-ins before Holden grabbed a rebound with one second left to force a second overtime.
St. Edward's led most of the second overtime until Holden came through once again with a three-pointer with 55 seconds left to give the Falcons a 91-90 lead. A couple of free throws by Miner gave the Hilltoppers a 92-91 edge before
Louis Crane's layup put the Falcons back up by one.
Remy Boswell made a layup with three seconds to play and was fouled in the process and made the freebie, giving St. Ed's a 95-93 advantage.
Mike Akins threw the ball in on the Falcons side of the court to Jordan, who dribbled several times before heaving his last-second shot from the left side of half court that found the back of the net and the Falcons their first-ever conference title.
UTPB will take on St. Mary's, who earned the No. 4 seed after downing A&M International, in the first round of the Heartland Conference Tournament on March 4 in San Antonio.
