Jason Wagner hit a game-tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation and the game-winning jumper as the second overtime wound down to lift the No. 6 Crusaders to a 104-102 victory over Concordia Texas on Tuesday night at Mayborn Campus Center.
That win came a few hours after the Lady Crusaders controlled the action on both ends of the floor to put away the Tornados 62-56.
Men
With the winner of the West Division earning the right to host the ASC tournament, UMHB (10-1 overall, 7-0) fought off scrappy Concordia (7-4, 4-3) in their division opener.
The Crusaders trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half, then rallied to tighten things up.
Joel McDonald’s two free throws with 11 seconds left in regulation put the Tornados up 87-84 before Wagner worked his magic following a timeout.
Wagner took a pass under duress at the top of the key and drained the 3 to knot it at 87 with three seconds remaining.
Concordia turned the ball over as time expired.
“I had a hunch,” UMHB coach Ken DeWeese said of drawing up the play. “I had a feeling he would be able to get open.”
Ryan Burgart and Tilmon Gaddy blocked a pair of Tornado shots in the final two seconds of the first overtime session to preserve a 94-94 deadlock and force the second extra period.
Gaddy had four points in the second overtime to help offset 3s by Concordia’s Quinton Black and McDonald.
The Tornados pulled even at 102 on a driving layup by Mike Moore, who came in averaging eight points and finished with a game-high 35.
Matt Caskey rebounded a Concordia miss with 25 seconds remaining and got the ball to Wagner, who let the clock wind down and his teammates to clear out.
He drove just inside the top of the key, had his dribble almost tipped away by a double-team, then regained possession and drained a 17-footer to win it.
“Coach had told me with about 20 seconds left that if I was feeling it, to try to take my man,” said Wagner, a 5-10 junior guard who had an emphatic one-handed dunk in the second half and finished 20 points. “That’s what I did.”
Added DeWeese: “We work on that all the time in practice, so I didn’t have to call a timeout. I didn’t want to give Concordia a chance to talk about it and then us have to take the trouble of throwing it in. Our guys knew what to do.”
Gaddy scored a team-high 25 points for UMHB, which shot 46 percent. Burgart had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Caskey added 11 points and Matt Dickey had 10.
McDonald scored 19 points for Concordia, which shot 50 percent in the second half after only 32 percent in the first. Reza Farahani added 13 points and Valentino Maxwell added 11.
“I don’t know if Concordia is going to lose very many more games,” DeWeese said. “This game could have significant ramifications come February.”
Women
After a 2-4 start, the Lady Crusaders (7-4, 5-2) won their fifth straight and put an end to the Tornados’ four-game winning streak.
More important, UMHB pulled even with Concordia (7-4, 5-2) by winning a clash of teams currently battling for fourth place in the West. The top four teams in each division advance to the ASC tournament.
“I told the girls before the game that we have edged Concordia out for that fourth spot the last two years, but they are playing better this year than I’ve ever seen,” UMHB coach Kim Kirkpatrick said. “So this was a big game for us, and we want to continue to build on this win.”
The Lady Crusaders broke open a back-and-forth game with a 14-3 run midway through the first half and took a 33-24 lead into intermission.
Concordia got within seven points with 11:41 remaining and cut the gap to 57-53 with a minute left but got no closer.
UMHB freshman post Landie Thompson, who averaged a double-double in two wins last week, had game-highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds. Fellow freshman Jenny Black scored 11 points and sophomore Mallory McAdams added nine.
Kassandra Bills led Concordia with 19 points. Lanean Harris had 15 and Lori Lee Beck chipped in 10.
“I’m really proud of the way the girls stuck to the plan,” said Kirkpatrick, whose squad owned a 49-30 advantage on the boards. “They executed what we wanted and it paid off."
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
