Box Score
ABILENE – For a fleeting moment, it appeared as if all of ACU's hard work Saturday afternoon would be for nothing and the Wildcats would walk out of Moody Coliseum with another heartbreaking loss.
Until
Parker Wentz got his hands on the ball about 93 feet from the basket with 4.4 seconds left on the clock.
Wentz's coast-to-coast dash ended with him throwing up a layup just before the buzzer sounded and Tirrell Brown – whose layup seconds earlier had given Central Arkansas a 72-71 lead – pinning it against the backboard for an apparent goaltending call and an ACU win. After the three officials huddled and looked at a replay, the lead official blew his whistle and counted the basket, setting off a wild scene on the Moody Coliseum floor as the Wildcats celebrated an improbable 73-72 win over the Bears.
The win is the first Southland Conference win of the season for the Wildcats, who improve to 7-10 overall and 1-3 in the Southland, while the Bears fall to 4-12 and 1-4. ACU is back on the floor at Moody Coliseum on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. when it hosts Lamar before playing Sam Houston State at 3 p.m. next Saturday in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN3.
Saturday's win was significant for several reasons, not the least of which is that it's ACU's first win over an NCAA Division I opponent this season, snapping a 27-game losing streak against Division I foes dating back to the 1984-85 season. ACU's last win over an NCAA Division I team prior to Saturday was a 93-89 win over Pepperdine on Dec. 3, 1984.
And ACU's last win in the Southland Conference was a 93-77 win over Lamar on Feb. 12, 1973, at Moody Coliseum.
But that's all in the past now as the Wildcats have finally scratched the "Win" column in the Southland Conference thanks to a gritty effort by an outmanned ACU squad.
Playing with just nine players and with leading scorers
Harrison Hawkins and
LaDarrien Williams still out, the Wildcats battled back from as many as 12 points behind to pull out the victory.The victory-clinching run started with less than four minutes left after a LaQuentin Miles jumper gave UCA a 70-63 lead with 3:12 to play. That was the Bears' last field goal until Brown's layup with five seconds to play.
James Pegues hit a jumper to make it a 70-65 game with 2:55 to play, and after a Miles miss and a defensive rebound, the Wildcats pulled to within three points ( 70-67) on a
Julian Edmonson jumper with 1:49 to play. After each team missed a shot, Edmonson was able to grab a miss by Grant and Wentz was fouled by DuShawun Rice with 1:01 to play.
Wentz calmly knocked down both free throws to bring ACU to within 70-69. DeShone McClure then turned the ball over with 41 seconds left and Edmonson picked up the loose ball and got the ball inside to
Austin Cooke, who was fouled by McClure with 28 seconds to play. Cooke missed both free throws, but picked up the biggest offensive rebound of his career when he knifed diagonally between two UCA defenders and scooped up the loose ball to keep the Wildcats in possession of the ball.
Inexplicably, Went was fouled out front by McClure with 21 seconds left and he hit both free throws to give ACU a 71-70 advantage. After getting the ball halfcourt, UCA called timeout to set up what the Bears thought would be the game-winning play. With Miles handling the ball at the top, he drove to the lane and dropped the ball off for a cutting Brown, who rattled in a layup with five seconds to play.
Wentz took the inbounds pass and never hesitated, heading up the floor, weaving through UCA defenders and throwing up a layup just before the horn sounded and the red light went off to end the game. Brown, however, pinned the ball and was called for goaltending to give the Wildcats the win.
"Our guys just kept battling," ACU head coach
Joe Golding said. "We talked for the last couple of days about the tougher winning this game. I didn't think we were the tougher team the entire game, but we were in the last three minutes or so, and that's when it counted. We've had a lot of tough things happen to this team over the course of the last couple of weeks, but these guys that suited up (today) just kept believing and playing and working to win this game."
Wentz – who played 41 minutes in last Saturday's double-overtime loss at Southeastern Louisiana and 37 in Thursday's loss to Oral Roberts – played 40 minutes Saturday and scored a career-high 21 points to lead all scorers. Freshman forward
Michael Grant had 17 points in 27 minutes for the Wildcats, while Edmonson had 15 points in his second straight solid start.
Cooke kept the Wildcats in the game on the boards, picking up 10 to go along with three points, five assists and two steals in 36 minutes. Pegues came off the bench for 10 big points and five rebounds in 18 minutes of time.
