ABILENE –
JV Seat grabbed an offensive rebound and scored the go-ahead basket with 1.5 seconds left in overtime to give Abilene Christian its first WAC win of the season – a 91-81 victory over Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Saturday.
The game featured 15 lead changes and 14 ties and went to an extra period on a controversial call. Elijah Elliott hit a game-tying three-pointer as the buzzer sounded. While officials were reviewing time on the clock after the made basket, fans in Moody Coliseum were able to watch a UTRGV player appear to step over the baseline on the long inbound pass. That part of the play was not subject to review by rule.
Airion Simmons had knocked down a free throw with two seconds left for the 80-77 ACU lead before Elliott's game-tying shot.
After a pair of two-point leads by the Vaqueros early in the overtime period, ACU tied the game on an
Ali Abdou Dibba jumper, 84-84 with 3:43 to play.
Both teams turned up the defense from there and the next basket – a turnaround jumper by
Hunter Jack Madden – gave ACU an 86-84 lead with 43 seconds left.
UTRGV tied the game with 20 seconds to go but fouled
Kavion McClain before the inbound pass and McClain calmly scored both free throws with 19 seconds showing.
Hasan Abdul-Hakim converted a three-point play with nine seconds left to give the Vaqueros an 89-88 lead.
McClain drove to the basket but missed the well-contested layup. Seat got the ball, went back up in a crowded lane and landed the big bucket with 1.5 seconds left.
The Vaqueros turned over the inbound and fouled Madden, who made a free throw for the final margin. McClain intercepted the final pass from UTRGV to preserve the win.
Five Cats scored in double figures, led by Dibba with 23. Madden had 17,
Leonardo Bettiol scored 14 and McClain and Simmons added 12 each.
Simmons led the rebounding effort with nine. McClain had five assists and six steals.
ACU shot 53.4 percent from the field for the game and got to the free throw line 39 times, converting 25.
The Cats (6-8 overall and 1-2 in the WAC) head out on the road next week, starting with a 7 p.m. (Arizona time) game at Grand Canyon on Thursday.
