box score
SAN ANTONIO – The University of Texas of the Permian Basin men's basketball team continues to add chapters to its Cinderella story as it found a way to win once again, this time a 61-59 overtime victory over St. Mary's in the first round of the Heartland Conference Tournament.
The Falcons have been testing the nine-lives theory as four of their last six victories have come by a margin of three points or less, including back-to-back overtime wins.
Although UTPB led for nearly the entire game including overtime, it was never able to take control of the game. “I don't think there was any comfort in that game anywhere. Any time tried to make a run, they made plays to stop it,” Osborne said.
St. Mary's jumped out to a 16-11 win with 9:06 to go in the first before Lamb Autrey hit a jumper, but the Falcons answered with a 9-0 run to take a 20-16 advantage with just over six minutes to play. “I really feel like if Lamb Autrey is not hurt for the last month, there is no way they are No. 4 seed. There is a reason why they were picked No. 1 in the preseason,” Osborne said. Autrey finished with 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting five rebounds and three assists.
UTPB would eventually go into the locker room with a 28-27 lead despite shooting 37 percent from the field
The second half saw the Falcons extend their lead to 39-31 after
Erik Martin made a layup and converted the free throw after being fouled with 14:34 to go. The would cling to a single-digit lead until Kevin Kotzur, who finished with a team-high 14 points, made a 10-foot jumper with 57 seconds to give the Rattlers a 52-50 edge.
Jamal Holden has been the safety valve for the Falcons nearly the entire season and they went to him once again as he tied the game at 52 with 47 seconds left after draining a jumper in the lane. Neither team would score the rest of the way to force overtime. In the regular season finale, Holden forced both overtime and double-overtime at St. Edward's. He would go on to finish with a game-high 19 points and made three of the team's eight three-pointers.
St. Mary's led for just 31 seconds of the overtime period until Holden tied the game at 54 with a pair of free throws.
Louis Crane would give UTPB the lead for good after converting a layup with 3:52 to go.
Holden would give the Falcons a 60-57 lead after draining two more free throws with 58 seconds to play, but Autrey quickly closed the gap to one after hitting a jumper 12 seconds later.
Neither team would score until Crane hit the back end of a pair of free throws with three seconds left giving the Falcons a 61-59 edge. Gordon Ward's three pointer at the buzzer fell short to give UTPB its sixth-straight win.
The Falcons will take on the winner of second-seeded Texas A&M International and fourth seeded Newman tomorrow at 5 p.m.
