St. Edward’s head coach Andre Cook told the media after last Saturday’s 86-64 win over UT Tyler that, at this point in the year, “You just got to win;” and his team listened.
The men’s basketball team escaped Thursday night with a thrilling 101-99 win over the Cameron University Aggies to keep pace in the loaded Lone Star Conference tournament picture.
Jamison Kay and Gavino Ramos initiated a three-point barrage on St. Edward’s opening possessions to give the Hilltoppers a 6-0 lead. Aggies Miles Gurske and Reggie Prodhomme responded with back-to-back triples to tie the game. Ramos responded with two more threes on ensuing possessions.
Conor McManus drained a three to give the Hilltoppers a 17-15 lead at the 15-minute mark. At the end of the first half, both teams shot a combined 20-27 from three-point land — with Cameron shooting 11-17 and St. Edward’s with 9-10. The Aggies lead 54-51 at halftime, thanks to Miles Gurske’s 17 points, 15 of which came from three-pointers.
Just like the first half, Kay scored the first points of the half for SEU on a two-handed jam to make it a one point game. Then, McManus picked the pocket of Cameron’s Jaxon Ingram to start a possession that ended in a McManus three to take the lead, 56-54.
The Aggies immediately responded with a 9-0 run on three straight threes to take a 63-56 lead with 16 minutes to go. Over the next 12 minutes, Aggie and Austin native Aaron Jacob would explode for 17 points and cash in on two Hilltopper technical fouls committed by Latiek Briscoe and Lewis Rowe. Cameron took a 96-86 lead, putting the Hilltoppers’ season on the ropes.
Ramos and McManus sparked a 9-0 run over the next minute and thirty-six seconds with steals and a lay-up on back-to-back possessions to trim the deficit to 95-89. The 3:59 media timeout hardly stalled the Hilltoppers. SEU responded out of the break by Ramos setting his center Rowe for a lay-up.
“Our competitive spirit allowed us to get back into the game,” Cook said. “Any loss is devastating to us right now. We just have to keep winning.”
A defensive stop on the other end of the floor, and a Kay ‘and-one’ brought the Hilltoppers within a point, trailing 95-94 with three minutes remaining in regulation.
Jacob drew a foul on Kay, and would hit two free throws to give the Aggies a 97-94 lead.
With 2 minutes left, Prodhomme set up Ingram with a lay-up to push Cameron’s lead to 99-94.
McManus, who had been streaky all night the Hilltoppers, drained the biggest shot of his career, on a wing three to tie the game at 99, with a minute and 27 seconds left in the game.
Ramos stripped Pruhomme in mid-air with ten seconds left in the game, pushed the pace and dumped it down to Kay, who banked the game-winner off the glass to give the Hilltoppers a 101-99 lead with 5.3 seconds remaining. Aggies’ Gurske turned the ball over with 2.7 seconds on the clock.
“G (Ramos) made a good steal and we had numbers,” Kay said. “You’re taught to run your lanes, he got me the ball and I just finished it.
Ramos went on to miss the front-end of a one-and-one, forcing a last second prayer from Cameron’s Ingram that ended up off-line, and the Hilltoppers advanced to 16-10 overall and 10-7 in Lone Star Conference play.
The Hilltoppers will face Oklahoma Christian on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in a game with massive LSC Tournament implications.
