STEPHENVILLE ? The No. 15 Tarleton Texans battled a tough Southwest Baptist Bearcat team in the NCAA Division South Central Regional semifinals, and thanks to a strong second half, the Texans advanced to the championship game with an 80-72 victory.
Tarleton (25-6) scored 15 of the last 21 points of the game to move on to its third meeting with Central Oklahoma, but this one will be for the right to advance to the Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass.
The Texans trailed 37-32 at the half, but Tarleton battled back in the second period, outscoring the visitors 48-35 in the final 20 minutes.
“First, I want to give God the glory for the victory,” said Tarleton head coach Lonn Reisman. “This game was everything I thought it could be. I thought both teams gave tremendous effort. Our guys were totally focused and resilient in the second half, and we were able to come out on top in this great ballgame.”
The Texans were outrebounded 20-15 in the first half, but Tarleton used its presence below the basket in the second period to outdo SBU on the boards, 25-16.
“We had three keys to the second half, and rebounding was one of them,” Reisman said. “Rebounding was the key to the second half as was holding them to just 35 percent from the field in the second half. SBU was a great team, and it took a great team to beat them. I am very proud of our team tonight.”
Twenty-seven seconds into the contest, Jeffrey Henfield found Eric Williams cutting to the basket from the left side, and the junior put the ball in the hoop to give Tarleton the early advantage. A minute later, Nick Kovacevich went to the line for the Bearcats, hitting both for the Bearcats. At 17:40, Jim Grabowski put the visitors ahead with a jumper in the paint to make it 4-2.
Williams was fouled with 17:16 on the clock, and the Texan hit both bonus shots to tie the game at four. Matt Rogers had a turnaround jumper on the other end before Henfield was fouled with 16:54 remaining in the first half. The Texan senior hit two free throws for Tarleton.
Terrence Gamble gave Tarleton a two-point lead with just over 16 minutes left in the first period with a jumper in the paint before Williams had the same at 15:21. Kovacevich then hit a three on an inbounds pass from the right corner, but Williams got a putback on the other end and was fouled. The Texan missed the bonus shot and Tarleton led 12-9.
Kovacevich then hit a jumper on another inbounds pass prior to Steven Cunningham going to the line for the visitors at 14:06. He hit his first free throw and missed the second, but the bonus shot tied the game at 12.
Gamble was then sent to the line at 12:53, and the Texan senior hit both shots for Tarleton to put the home team ahead by two, 14-12. Neither team scored until Rogers went to the line at 10:03 and made one of two free throws. Ten seconds later, Patterson went to the line and made two shots. The Texans led 16-13.
Kovacevich went to the line to shoot two with 9:45 remaining in the period, and he made the second. A Texan turnover led to a Grabowski layup on the inbound pass after the free throw and the game was tied at 16. D'Ante Harris had two free throws at 9:05 to put the visitors ahead by two. Kovacevich then had a three from the right corner at 8:32 to push the Bearcat lead to five, 21-16.
Henfield hit the first Texan bucket in over a minute and a half at 8:12 to cut the lead to three before Kovacevich had a jumper on the opposite end. Patterson had a long jumper on the Texan end of the floor, but John Tiemeyer had a bucket for the Bearcats. SBU led 25-20 before Justin Brown had a three from the left wing to make it an eight-point game.
With 6:05 on the clock, Mike Daniels hit two free throws, but only the first one counted due to a lane violation by Gamble. Harris then had a layup at 5:38 for SBU before Henfield went to the line 20 seconds later. The Texan senior hit both shots to cut the lead to seven, 30-23.
Tiemeyer had another jumper in the lane for the visitors before Patterson found Gamble for a dunk for the Texans. Harris then had a steal and a fastbreak layup at 3:44 to put the visitors up by nine, 34-25.
Daniels beat the shot clock with just over three minutes on the clock with a jumper, but Tiemeyer had a layup on the other end. Warren Webb then missed one of two free throws at 2:31 to cut the lead to six. Fourty-five seconds later Tiemeyer hit the backend of a two-shot foul to stretch the lead to 37-28.
Webb returned to the line with 1:27 on the clock, and the Texan freshman hit both bonus shots. The left-handed shooter cut the lead to seven with the shots prior to Daniels being fouled at the halftime buzzer on a shot. The Texan senior hit both bonus shots to cut the SBU halftime lead to 37-32.
Harris went to the line to open the second half with two free throws just 33 seconds into the period to stretch the Bearcat lead to 39-32. On the other end, Gamble had a jumper off the glass for Tarleton before Rogers had a hook shot bounce off the rim and roll in.
Limar Wilson had a jumper in the paint for Tarleton, but Grabowski nailed a three from the left corner to push the score to 44-36. A shot block by Rogers on the Tarleton end led to a Brandon Burgette fastbreak layup which put the Bearcats up by 10, 46-36. Henfield was the fouled with 17:01 on the clock, and the Texan hit both for Tarleton to cut the lead to eight.
With 16:42 on the clock, Tristan Steele had a layup after driving the baseline for the visitors, but Henfield found the bottom of the net with a three from the right side of the arc to cut the advantage to seven, 48-41, with 16:22 on the clock. Thirty-five seconds afterwards, Williams was fouled and sent to the line for Tarleton. The junior connected on the first bonus shot to cut the lead to six, but he missed the second.
Wilson then went coast-to-coast for a layup to cut the score to 48-44 before Henfield knocked down a three to make it a one-point game. Kovacevich had a three at 14:29 for the Bearcats to end a two and a half minute drought for the Bearcats. Gamble got a putback on the other end for Tarleton before SBU head coach Jeff Guiot was called for a technical foul. Henfield went to the line for the Texans to shoot the bonus shots, and the senior hit both to tie the game at 51 with 13:52 on the clock.
Gamble was fouled 31 seconds later, and the senior hit one free throw to give Tarleton its first lead since there was over nine minutes left in the first period. With 11:57 on the clock, Williams was sent to the line once again, and the Texan increased the lead to two with the backend of the two-shot foul, 53-51.
Gamble added to the lead with a bank shot, but Burgette got the same on the other end for the Bearcats. The Texan then hit Henfield for a layup to push the lead to four. Daniels then found Patterson in the left corner for a wide-open three with just over nine and a half minutes left on the clock before Daniels was fouled while shooting at the 8:07-mark. The Texan senior hit both free throws. Tarleton led by nine, 62-53. Thirteen seconds later, Kavacevich had a layup for the Bearcats, but Gamble was fouled on the opposite end. The Texan senior hit the backend of the two-shot foul to make it 63-55.
With 7:22 on the clock, Grabowski got a jumper on the inbounds pass to cut the lead to six. Burgette went to the line with 6:37 remaining in the contest, and the Bearcat made both shots to cut the score to 63-59. Daniels hit a jumper with 6:01 on the clock to beat the shot clock for the first Texan field goal since Henfield had a bucket at 10:36.
Grabowski went to the line to shoot one-and-one with 5:55 left in the period, and the senior made two to cut the lead to four. Cunningham then got a steal and a fastbreak layup to cut the lead to 65-63 with 5:14 remaining. Eichel was then fouled at the 4:41-mark on a rebound, and the sophomore hit both to return the lead to four.
Burgette went to the line at 4:13 and hit one of two shots, but SBU got the rebound off the miss. Patterson then nailed a three at 3:58 for the Texans before a foul sent Burgette to the line eight seconds later. The Bearcat hit both for the visitors to cut the score to 70-66.
Williams was fouled on a fastbreak layup at 3:47, and the senior missed both, but Henfield got the rebound for Tarleton. Williams then got a putback for the Texans to stretch the lead to six. Harris had a layup at 2:37 for SBU before Eichel found Patterson for an open jumper with just over a minute and a half left. Harris then got a putback on the opposite end.
Patterson was then sent to the line with 62 ticks left on the clock, and the senior hit both free throws to make it a six-point game, 76-70. The Texans then got a steal and had a fastbreak layup by Henfield with 47.56 seconds left on the clock to make it an eight-point game.
With 33.66 seconds left, Harris went to the line for SBU to shoot three, and the Bearcat hit two charity shots. Daniels was fouled to stop the clock with 31.94 seconds remaining, and the senior hit both to stretch the lead again and give Tarleton a 80-72 victory.
The Texans were led by Henfield with 20 points while Patterson (14), Gamble (14), Williams (12) and Daniels (11) each scored in double figures. Williams recorded his sixth double-double of the season leading all rebounders with 13.
Tarleton averaged .407 from the floor (22-54), .333 from the arc (4-12) and .744 from the charity stripe (32-43).
SBU was led by Kovacevich with 18 points while Harris added 14 and Grabowski had 11. Rogers and Harris had seven boards apiece to lead the visitors.
The Bearcats hit 14 of 35 threes in the win Saturday, but the Texans held the Bearcats to just five Sunday. SBU averaged .421 from the floor (24-57), .250 from the arc (5-20) and .704 from the line (19-27).
Tarleton will now face UCO in the regional championship game Tuesday, March 18 at 7 p.m. in Wisdom Gym. The two teams will be meeting for the third time this season after Tarleton won the first contest 73-70 in overtime in Stephenville on Jan. 3 before losing to the Bronchos on March 7 at the LSC Championship Tournament, 77-65.
“This will be the fourth time in five years we have been to the regional championship game,” Reisman said. “Some coaches don't ever get to go to the Elite Eight, and we are now playing to go for the third time in four seasons. That is a blessing, though it seems surreal.
“We know the game will be a very physical, tough contest,” Reisman said. “The support we had here tonight was tremendous, and we hope everyone comes back to help push us to victory again. UCO is a great team, and we are going to have to play very well in order to win the game.”
