ABILENE — For a team learning to win, learning those lessons in crunch time are some of the most valuable they can experience.
And for the fourth time in their last five games, the ACU Wildcats found themselves in the middle of another crunch-time learning experience Wednesday night against New Orleans in a Southland Conference contest in Moody Coliseum. For the fourth time in the Wildcats' last five games, the outcome was determined on the final possession of the game, and for the second time it was ACU that came out on the right side, this time taking a 70-69 overtime decision over the Privateers.
The win pushes the Wildcats to 9-12 overall and 3-7 in the Southland, while the Privateers – who entered Wednesday night's game tied for first in the league – falls to 12-9 and 7-3. ACU will be back in action Saturday at 4 p.m. when it hosts Southland leader Sam Houston State in Moody Coliseum.
The game was full of dramatic moments with most of them coming in the final two minutes of regulation and in the final two minutes of overtime. To wit:
• With ACU trailing 56-55 with 2:06 to play, redshirt freshman
Jalone Friday – who didn't score in the first half – picked up a loose ball and hit a baby hook shot and was fouled just before the shot clock buzzer sounded. His free throw gave ACU a 58-55 lead with 2:06 left in regulation.
• Two possessions later, UNO's Travin Thibodeaux picked up an offensive rebound off a Tevin Broils miss and laid it in to tie the game at 58-58 with 32 seconds to play.
• ACU played for virtually the last shot of the game, and got the perfect look when sophomore guard
Jaylen Franklin drove into the lane, kicked out to
Isaiah Tripp, who found Friday open at the top of the key. He buried the go-ahead 3-pointer with three seconds left to give ACU a 61-58 advantage.
• But New Orleans wasn't done. The Privateers – who saw then-freshman
Jaren Lewis bury a half court buzzer-beating 3-pointer last February in the Wildcats' 87-84 win – ran a perfect inbounds play against ACU pressure and Nate Frye buried a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to knot the game at 61 apiece and send the contest to overtime.
• Things got even crazier in overtime where redshirt freshman guard
B.J. Maxwell – who had six points on the season before scoring eight points Wednesday night – scored the first five points (layup and 3-pointer) to give ACU a 66-61 lead.
• UNO got the game tied at 67-67 when Broyles converted a three-point play with 1:09 to play before Friday buried another 3-pointer with 37 seconds left to give the Wildcats a 70-67 lead.
• Broyles hit another layup after he got an offensive rebound of his own miss, cutting the ACU lead to 70-69 with 23 seconds to play.
• ACU junior guard
Isaiah Tripp was then fouled on the inbounds pass, but the normally very reliant free throw shooter (85 percent on the season) missed both free throws, leaving ACU's lead at just one point with plenty of time left for the Privateers.
• Christavious Gill had a 3-pointer with six seconds left, but it was off the mark and rebounded by Erik Thomas, the league's leading scorer. He had a contested layup that bounced off the rim with two seconds left, and the clock ran out before the Privateers could get another shot up.
Friday led the Wildcats with 15 points, all of them coming in the second half and overtime, while Lewis and Tripp had 13 points and Franklin 12 for the Wildcats.
