LAS VEGAS – The Abilene Christian men's basketball team played in each of the last two Southland Conference Tournament championship games before moving over to the Western Athletic Conference, and in their first year with the new league, the result is the same. ACU (23-9) will play for the WAC Tournament title on Saturday, March 12 after a thrilling 78-76 victory over the No. 2 seed Seattle U in the semifinal round. In a game of two very different halves, ACU held on with free throws down the stretch, hitting 28-of-39, to preserve the victory over the WAC regular season co-champion Redhawks (23-9). ACU will play for its third conference tournament championship in the last four seasons on Saturday night at the Orleans Arena.
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Turning Point: The end of the first half, and free throws late.
The first half was incredibly defensive oriented, with Seattle U leading 6-0 to open the game. ACU trailed by three points, 19-16, with 3:43 to go until halftime. ACU then turned it on with a 12-3 burst to close the half, including a three-pointer from
Cameron Steele just before the break to put the 'Cats in front, 28-22. After a first 20 minutes that featured a combined 30% shooting from the floor, the second half was completely the opposite. Seattle U outscored ACU 54-50 in the final 20 minutes, and the teams shot a combined 47% from the floor. Free throws were more frequent than blinking, as the teams combined for 49 attempts in the second half. ACU hit 22-of-28 at the line, and had clutch free throws from
Damien Daniels and
Reggie Miller to close out the game. Seattle U had a chance at the buzzer to win it from half court, but it was offline and the 'Cats sealed the deal.
Key Plays
- 1st 8:54 | ACU trailed 6-0 at the first media timeout, and 11-4 midway through the half. ACU then used a 6-0 run fueled by layups from
Airion Simmons and
Immanuel Allen, as well as free throws from Allen and
Cameron Steele. ACU trailed 11-10 at that point.
- 1st 8:42 | This stretch for the ACU defense was big. The 'Cats did not allow a point to Seattle from the for five minutes of game time.
- 1st 5:45 | Morris turned a takeaway into a jumper in the paint to put ACU down 16-15, and then Miller hit a free throw to tie it up.
- 1st 2:33 | Trailing 19-18, Morris took a turnover and turned it into points, jump-starting the run to the halftime lead.
- 2nd 19:48 | Simmons drained a three-pointer to open the second half, pushing ACU's to nine, the largest lead of the night.
- 2nd 15:17 | After the Redhawks cut it to two, 35-33, Cameron converted in the paint to go right back up four, 37-33.
- 2nd 10:41 | ACU hit 21 free throws in the final 10:41 of the ball game.
- 2nd 0:35 | Leading by one, Seattle U fouled Daniels, who buried both foul shots. ACU led 74-71 at that point. ACU played defense at the other end, and after getting a stop, Cameron was fouled. He hit one-of-two, and ACU led 75-71 with 21 seconds to play.
- 2nd 0:11 | Seattle U made it interesting by converting an and-one with Darrion Trammell, who finished with 39 points in the game. Miller then got fouled for ACU, and he buried both foul shots to right back up three, 77-74. ACU then played the foul game, forcing Seattle to shoot free throws with six seconds left. Trammell hit both, making it 77-76 with six seconds left. Daniels then got fouled, and after making the first, he missed the second, and Seattle had to go the length of floor. The half court shot fell short, and ACU advanced.
Stat Pack
- Simmons finished with 21 points, including 16 in the second half, and finished 8-of-15 from the floor with eight rebounds.
- Cameron finished with a career-high 18 points on 4-of-8, and the veteran went 10-of-11 at the foul line, a career-best as well.
- Morris scored 13 points and played a team-high 35 minutes. The senior from Philly added seven boards as well.
- Daniels scored 10 off the bench, hitting four-of-six at the stripe. It's the first double-digit game for Daniels since the epic come-from-behind win over UTRGV in Edinburg on Jan. 26.
- ACU forced 19 Seattle U turnovers, and scored 19 points off the takeaways.
- There were 53 fouls called and 66 free throws attempted between the teams; ACU went 28-of-39 at the line, including 22-of-28 in the second half.
- ACU outscored Seattle U 34-22 in the point.
Up Next
- The No. 6 seed Wildcats will face the No. 1 seed NM State in the championship game on Saturday, March 12 at The Orleans Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. CT (7 p.m. PT). The game will air on ESPNU and 102.7 The Bear.
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