What a way to go out.
Seniors Ryan White, Cameron Johnson and Tony Bishop made the most of their last game at Strahan Coliseum Saturday evening as they beat the UT-San Antonio Roadrunners in a thriller, 82-80. Not only was Saturday Senior Night for six Bobcat seniors, it was the second game in the I-35 rivalry series between the two schools, and a chance to get some revenge in front of a regional audience on the Southland Conference TV Network.
More than 3,500 fans showed up to support the Bobcats and propel them to their ninth straight home victory, and tried to keep the squad atop the Southland Conference standings. However, just like all of the previous matchups between the ‘Runners and the ‘Cats, this game started out fast and ended even faster.
UTSA came out firing three’s while Texas State pounded the ball inside. In the first half, the Roadrunners connected on half of their 12 three-point tries while the Bobcats were 3-of-9 from deep.
Neither team got to the line very often in the first half as the each combined for nine free-throws. Texas State was 4-for-5 and UTSA was 2-for-4, but oh, how that would change in the second half.
In the second period alone, Texas State went 15-for-18 from the charity stripe while UTSA was 9-of-19, and those free throws would be crucial in “winning time.” Much like the game earlier this season up in San Antonio, the teams kept it close throughout the half, and lit up the scoreboard in the meantime. They both shot an identical 14/30 from the field in the final period, but the game took a turn for the worse in the final couple minutes.
With under a minute left to play, a questionable foul was called on UTSA’s senior star point guard Devin Gibson that fouled him out and put White on the line. White knocked down both of his shots to put his team up by one with 30 seconds left to play. So of course the ‘Runners decided to hold for the last shot. However, Melvin Johnson III wanted to play hero, and shot a fade-away three pointer that didn’t even graze the rim and went out of bounds with six seconds left.
Bobcat basketball. Ball game, right?
Wrong.
To the dismay of the 3,000 hysterical fans in attendance, a technical foul was then called on Bishop for “taunting,” which fouled him out of the game and put Johnson III at the line for two shots. The crowd was in awe. It did not last for long though because Johnson clanked his first shot that meant all he could do was tie the game on his second attempt, which he did. The score was 80 a piece and Texas State head coach Doug Davalos drew up a play where his team had to go the length of the floor and get a shot up in six seconds. Well, he did just that in a very simplistic sort of way, giving Ryan the ball and letting him make it happen. The senior point guard dribbled the orange the length of the court and got to the rim where he was fouled on a layup attempt with 0.3 seconds left on the clock.
The crowd erupted when his first free throw zapped through the net. White also connected on his second try that put his team up by two and gave him a career high 25 points. A quick inbound and full-court heave by UTSA was unsuccessful, and the ‘Cats escaped with the 82-80 victory.
Bishop tallied his ninth double-double of the season, with 4 points and ten rebounds, while fellow senior Cameron Johnson moved up to tenth all-time in points scored in the school’s history after he netted 12. These seniors battled like there was no tomorrow, even though there will be since they’re still No. 1 in the SLC West, with bright hopes going into the postseason.
The team will finish out their last two games of the season on the road, Wednesday at Lamar and Saturday at Sam Houston. Both contests are scheduled to tip off at 7:00 and KTSW will have pregame coverage starting at 6:45 on 89.9 and ktsw.net.
Robert Fisher, KTSW Assistant Sports Director
No comments:
Post a Comment