Despite being favored to lose, the MSU Mustangs pulled out an upset double-overtime win against the Angelo State Rams. Being down one of their lead scorers, business management sophomore Mason Gibson, the Mustangs were uncertain about who would be the one to step up.
“Being down one of our leading scorers, it was who was going to step up, and it wasn’t just one guy. It was all of them. Everybody got some minutes that may not have been in their normal rotation. They all just stepped up really big. It was just a complete team effort,” assistant coach Casey Weitzel said.
The score went back and forth in the first half. The Mustangs held the Ram to 28% accuracy from the three-point line, limiting them to nine of 32 shots from the three.
“We out-rebounded them 51-39. So doing those two things to a team that lives and dies by the three, you have a chance to win,” Weitzel said.
The first half ended with the Mustangs down by two with a score of 28-30.
The Mustangs saw no need to change their game plan in the second half. In the eyes of the coaches, the players were doing what they were supposed to, and the coaches were content with how the game was going so far.
“We were happy with where we were going into half-time. We missed a block out or two, and they got four offensive rebounds points off offensive rebounds. But we were actually pretty happy. We were rebounding the ball well and felt like the pace was being played to our pace. We knew we needed to make a few more plays.” Weitzel said.
The Mustangs made good on those plays to improve their game.
Leading scorer accounting senior Pierre Sanders scored 29 out of his 31 points in the second half.
Sander brought the Mustangs from a 7-point deficit, scoring 13 points in the second half to end regulation with a tied score of 63-63.
The first overtime went back and forth, both teams battling to win the game and come out on top when the five minutes were up. The Mustangs were down 72-69 with 19 seconds left on the clock when business finance junior Will Shepherd knocked down a three, tying the game and forcing the Rams to use a time-out to try and regroup. Neither team scored again in the last 19 seconds of the period, causing the game to go into double overtime.
Staring out in double overtime, the three points Shepherd scored was the turning play for the Mustangs. The Mustangs went on a 12-2 run to start the period, led by Sanders, who scored 7 of the 12 points. The Mustangs dominated the Rams, only allowing them to score 7 points compared to the Mustangs’ 16 points. Sanders and marketing sophomore Amaechi Chukwu each converted on their free throw chances and sealed the win for the Mustangs.
The final score of the game was 88-79, with the Mustangs as the victors. The Mustangs had a great percentage of shots made from the field, the 3-point line and the free throw line. The Mustangs also out-rebounded the Rams.
