ABILENE – Abilene Christian fell behind early and took a late lead but Tarleton State got the overtime win, 76-73, Thursday night.
The Texans got out to a 9-0 lead and led by as many as 10 late in the half, but the Wildcats never let the game get out of control.
"I told the guys this week, in my mind, win, lose or draw it's gonna be about how we competed and I'm proud of how we competed," said ACU Head Coach
Brette Tanner. "We didn't start good but we fought through it. We had some guys from the bench step up, which has been a struggle for us. Nas (
Nasir DeGruy) was as good as he's been defensively. Yani (
Yaniel Rivera) came in and did some positive things in the first half. Aidan (
Aidan Igiehon) came in and made a push. And we competed."
Still down nine points with 14 minutes left in the game, DeGruy hit a jumper, came up with a steal and scored on a fast break to knock the deficit down to 43-38. Ali Dibba and
Airion Simmons hit three-pointers to keep up the offensive pressure and narrow the gap to 46-44.
At the 5:14 mark,
JV Seat canned a three-pointer to make it 58-57,
Leonardo Bettiol tied it with a free throw a minute later. DeGruy was on repeat for a basket for the 60-58 lead – ACU's first – at the 3:20 mark. DeGruy got another steal and
Hunter Jack Madden made it a 62-58 game with 2:43 to play.
The Cats had a 65-60 lead with 61 seconds to play but missed just enough free throws to keep the door open for Jakorie Smith to hit a game-tying three-pointer with 11 seconds to go. ACU missed a well-defended three-pointer at the buzzer.
Tarleton State scored the first four points of the overtime period and never trailed, though ACU stayed close enough to have a chance at the tie at the horn.
Simmons led the Wildcats with 24 points and added seven rebounds.
Kavion McClain finished with 10 points and Bettiol gathered 11 rebounds.
ACU was 12 of 21 from the free-throw line.
The Wildcats take Saturday off and head out on the road for four games, beginning Thursday at Seattle.
