ABILENE -- The ACU Wildcats have played the role of hard-luck loser in their last two games.
But Saturday at Moody Coliseum, they turned the tables on Southwestern Oklahoma State, stealing a game from the Bulldogs, 88-87, in overtime in a Lone Star Conference crossover game.
The win pushes the Wildcats to 4-2 overall, while the Bulldogs fall to 2-5 with their second straight overtime loss. ACU will return to action next Saturday at 8 p.m. against Texas A&M-Commerce in Commerce.
After an 85-82 loss to Dallas Baptist on Monday and a 58-57 loss to Cameron on Thursday, the Wildcats went into Saturday's game with two tough losses on their resume and it looked like they might be on their way to another one Saturday afternoon.
At the end of regulation, Ross Moore hit a 3-pointer to put the Bulldogs ahead 78-77 with 24 seconds left. But
Abby Kabba hit a free throw with 10 seconds left to send the game to the extra period.
Neither team led by more than two points in the overtime period and ACU took an 84-82 lead with 2:23 left on a layup by
Preston Davis. But Damien Henderson tied the game at 84-84 with 1:45 to play with a layup on a feed from Ross.
ACU, though, answered with a layup by Kabba after a nice pass from Davis to give the Wildcats an 86-84 lead with 1:19 to play. But the Bulldogs came back to take an 87-86 lead with 18 seconds to play when Damian Henderson converted a three-point play to give his team a one-point lead.
The Wildcats, though, worked the ball down low to
Dosh Simms, who took a feed from Davis and hit a layup to put the Wildcats ahead 88-87 with seven seconds to play. Charleston Flemmings had a good look at the game-winning 3-pointer, but it fell short and the Wilcats celebrated the end of a short losing streak.
Heiman -- who keyed the ACU comeback down the stretch of the second half -- led the Wildcats with 20 points, while Davis had 17 points and eight assists off the bench. Kabba finished with 12 points and Eddie Thompmson 10 for ACU.
