AUSTIN, Texas –
AUGUST HAAS drove the left side of the lane and hit a runner off the glass to lift St. Edward's Men's Basketball to an 82-81 win over Angelo State University Friday in the First Round of the NCAA National Tournament. The win marks the first time a Hilltopper men's basketball team has won an NCAA Tournament game.
SEU was tight at the start, feeling the importance of the contest, but fed off the energy of the crowd to hang within striking distance. While the Hilltoppers never led in the first half they never trailed by more than seven as the Rams took a five-point lead into the locker room, 40-35.
ASHTON SPEARS opened the second half with a layup and
DORIAN LOPEZ followed with a three from the top of the key to tie the game for the first time since the opening tip, 40-40. ASU answered with a three and layup of their own, but a three-point play by Haas followed by
RYAN GARZA's three put SEU on top for the first time three minutes in, 46-45.
Angelo State took the lead back briefly, 50-49, but the Hilltoppers went on an 11-2 run over the next three minutes to post the largest lead by either team, eight points, to lead 60-52 with 11 minutes to play. Garza provided the spark for SEU in the run, hitting two from deep to ignite the Hilltoppers and send fans into a frenzy.
ASU refused to pack it in and evened the score once again, 68-68, with just under six minutes remaining. As the clock ticked under a minute SEU held a three-point advantage, 78-75. The Rams began to foul to get back in the game and it worked as St. Edward's went just 3-6 from the free throw line in final minute. ASU's Ronald Bell sank two free throws of his own with nine seconds remaining to tie the game for the sixth time, 80-80.
SEU inbounded the ball and Haas brought it the length of the floor and broke free with a hesitation move just outside the arc that gave him a step on his defender, creating just enough room of the leaning layup.
A technical foul on the bench was assessed to St. Edward's allowing ASU to pull within one after the free throw. With half a second left and the entire length of the court the go the Rams attempted a full court pass but Garza snagged the ball at half court to seal the win.
Haas led SEU with 23 points, going 8-13 from the floor and 7-8 from the charity stripe, with nine assists and three steals. Spears added 22 points, shooting 4-9 from long range with a team-high seven steals.
LUCAS DORIA led with 10 rebounds as the Hilltoppers were outrebounded 53-35.
St. Edward's improves to 29-3 on the season and advance to the Second Round to face a familiar foe in Lubbock Christian. Tip is set for 7 pm on Saturday with the winner of the game moving onto the Regional Final.
