The University’s men’s basketball team solidified its spot in the American Southwest Conference tournament Feb. 26 with a 79-57 victory over Louisiana College on Thursday night.
The Patriots ended their regular season with an 80-74 victory over Mississippi College finishing the season with 15, the most in school history.
Thursday
Dexter McMarion’s three-point shot two minutes into the game gave the Patriots a 9-6 lead, which they never relinquished.
Hakeem Kareem took charge early, scoring 10 of the Patriots’ first 19 points. He finished the half with 15 points and seven rebounds.
The Patriots turned up the heat on defense in the latter minutes of the first half as well, forcing the Wildcats to commit 14 turnovers. They finished the half on a 10-2 run, and held a 34-25 lead at halftime.
Travan Porchia became a force in the early part of the second half. Porchia scored eight points, including a long three as the shot clock expired.
Louisiana College, however, sparked a 15-5 run and cut the Patriots’ lead to eight with less than seven minutes to play.
The Patriots answered by scoring 11 consecutive points to take a 69-50 lead. Neal Welch drained three-point shots on back-to-back possessions, and the Patriots closed the game out down the stretch to clinch the fourth and final ASC East Division playoff spot.
Patriots’ guard Travan Porchia drives past Louisiana College forward Korey Salmon at the Herrington Patriots Center on Thursday night. The Patriots defeated the Wildcats 79-56 and clinched a spot in the American Southwest Conference tournament in Belton. Photo by Richard Sarmiento.
“It feels great,” Kareem said following the game. “This is something we have been working for all year ... we set our goals high and we finally accomplished that with a win today.”
“We’ve been playing well,” head coach Kenny Bizot said. “I know our record may not show it, but here of late we’ve played well enough to get into the tournament.”
Saturday
Mississippi College jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the game’s first three minutes. The Patriots spent the next six minutes fighting back.
Josh Twine hit two free throws with 11:11 left in the first half to cut the lead to one, but allowed the Choctaws to extend their lead back to eight.
The Patriots again scratched their way back, and Neal Welch tied the game on a three- point shot with 3:47 until halftime.
Joshua Harvey, however, knocked down a three-point shot on the Choctaws’ next two possessions, and led Mississippi College to a 40-33 lead with 16 points at the half.
The Patriots picked up their defense on Harvey in the second, not allowing him to score a point. They took their first lead of the game with 6:28 remaining and never relinquished it.
Dexter McMarion led the Patriots with 15 points. Porchia and Welch followed with 12 each.
Harvey led all players with 16 points. Donnie Haywood followed with 14 points for the Choctaws.
The Patriots shot 39 percent for the game, 45.5 percent in the second half.
The two wins improved the Patriots to 15-10 overall, 11-9 in ASC play, and are now scheduled to play Mary Hardin-Baylor, the West Division champion, in the ASC tournament at 7:30 p.m. in Belton, Texas.
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