Men's Basketball
Senior Steven Thomas |
MAVERICKS LOSE A DOUBLE-OVERTIME HEARTBREAKER TO SAM HOUSTON STATE, 86-84
March 7, 2006
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - John Gardiner's jumper with five seconds to go gave Sam Houston State an 86-84 double-overtime victory over Texas-Arlington Tuesday evening in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
Texas-Arlington (14-15) trailed 70-68, with just 3:11 remaining when seniors Kenneth Henderson and Jarrett Howell went to work. Howell nailed two free throws to tie the game with 2:46 remaining. With 1:46 remaining, Henderson hit a free throw and at the 1:03 mark hit a jumper in the lane to give the Mavericks a 73-70 lead.
Sam Houston State (20-8) drove down and Shamir McDaniel hit a trey with 39 seconds to knot the game at 73-73. Both teams had a shot at a game-winner, but the game went to overtime.
In the first overtime, Texas-Arlington opened with a 6-2 run to take a 79-75 lead with 1:12 left in the game. The Bearkats' Jejuan Plair hit a three-pointer with 57 seconds left and Gardiner was fouled with 31 seconds left to go to the line for two free throws. Gardiner was only able to hit one of them to tie the score, 79-79. The Mavericks were setting up a play with eight seconds left when the shot clock inadvertently came on. Four seconds ran off of the clock before the referees stopped play. Both Steven Thomas and Vereen missed shots in the closing seconds to send it to a second overtime.
In the second overtime, the Mavericks were down 83-81, with 3:06 remaining, before Thomas hit a jumper with 2:18 left and Vereen added a free throw with 1:37 left to give them an 84-83 lead. Plair hit a free-throw with 1:09 remaining to tie the score once again. After a missed shot by Thomas and a turnover by SHSU's Plair, Vereen had the ball stolen by Kelvin Williams with 20 seconds remaining, setting the stage for Gardiner's heroics. After the made jumper, Thomas' heave at the buzzer barely missed ending the Mavericks' season.
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Thomas led Texas-Arlington with 21 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, while Vereen added 17 points and six rebounds. Henderson came off of the bench to notch a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Howell and Dawkins both had great games with 12 and 11 points, and six and five assists, respectively.
Chris Jordan led the Bearkats with 21 points, while Gardiner tallied 18 points and 13 rebounds. Plair chipped in with 10 points and a team-high seven assists.
Texas-Arlington ends their for the second-straight season, bowing out in the quarterfinals of the SLC Tournament. Sam Houston State will move on the semifinals where they will host Stephen F. Austin on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Huntsville.
