March 12, 2011

Final Stats

Texas A&M International University made a fantastic showing in its NCAA Tournament debut on Saturday evening at the South Central Regional Championship but in the end 4th ranked Central Oklahoma prevailed 79-70 in overtime. The Bronchos remained undefeated at home this season with the win at Hamilton Field House on the UCO campus in Edmond.

TAMIU (21-10) opened the game with a 15-7 run but UCO (28-3) held steady and fought back to take a 32-26 halftime lead.

The home team opened the second half with an 11-0 run to build a 43-26 lead at the 16:25 mark but TAMIU refused to fold, cutting the deficit to 50-45 on a dunk by Will Faiivae at the 9:30 mark.

The Dustdevils kept coming, with Ryan McLucas burying a deep 3-pointer from the left side at the 5:33 mark to cut the UCO lead to 57-56. Three possessions later, Brian Schaeffer hit a trey from the right side to tie the score 59-59.

Schaeffer pushed TAMIU to its first second half lead at 62-61 with one of two free throws made at the 1:21 mark. Evan Matteson upped the lead to 65-62 with a free throw with 12 seconds remaining.

Jarrod McDaniel drove the lane on UCO's next possession and was fouled on a made lay-up. He drained the free throw with seven seconds remaining to tie the score 65-65. TAMIU did not get off an attempted shot on its next possession and the game went into overtime.

Matteson made a lay-up at the 2:24 mark of overtime to provide TAMIU a 70-69 lead but the Dustdevils would not score again with UCO finishing the game with a 10-0 run.

McLucas and Matteson led the Dustdevils with 13 points apiece. Scottie Payne and Schaeffer contributed nine points apiece and Faiivae finished with seven points and a team-high seven rebounds.

While disappointed with the loss, head coach Shane Rinner is proud of what his team accomplished this year.

"These guys really care about each other and it showed tonight," Rinner said.

"Our guys did a tremendous job and I couldn't be prouder of them."