BILLINGS, Mont. -- The Master's had 10.5 seconds to get the final shot for an improbable come-from-behind victory.
But a final drive to the basket, through plenty of contact, no whistles, and the ball emerged in the hands of the opponent.
The Mustangs season came to an end with a 67-66 loss to No. 2-seed Rocky Mountain College Saturday in front of a loud and rowdy crowd in Billings, Mont.
TMU trailed by as much as 18 in the first half, coming back with a second half that was a near complete opposite of the first.
"The one thing that stands out to me is the guttiness and the grittiness we showed the whole second half to get back into the game on the road," said TMU Head Coach Kelvin Starr. "That's a credit to our guys' heart and passion, staying together and staying the course, and just playing their tails off. We just came up short."
A series of one and done possessions in the first 20 minutes, coupled with eight Mustang turnovers, helped Rocky Mountain build a 40-29 lead going into halftime.
But the final 20 minutes could not have been more different. Master's out-scored the Battlin' Bears 37-27 in the second half, using a pressure defense that took RMC out of their rhythm.
That defense also forced 10 Rocky Mountain turnovers in the final frame, compared to just three in the first.
The Battlin' Bears had held the lead since the 17:24 mark of the first half, but that changed when
Avery Jackson dropped in a layup with 2:14 to play complete that improbable comeback.
Less than a minute later, Jackson dropped in another layup and added the "And-1" to give The Master's the lead 65-64 with 1:40 to play.
The near capacity crowd at First Interstate Bank Arena, home of Rocky Mountain College, was suddenly silent.
The two teams exchanged a free throw each to make it 66-65 Master's.
With 13 seconds to play, RMC's Jacob Bilodeau was fouled, subsequently making both if his free throws to put the Battlin' Bears up 67-66.
TMU called time, drew up a play, but when Jackson drove to the basket for the game winner...
It was Rocky Mountain College fans who stormed the court and celebrated their team moving on to the Final 16 in Kansas City, Mo. next week.
"It was a hostile environment for sure," Coach Starr said. "But as a basketball player you relish in that. You know it's a high-level game, it's competitive, it was hard-nosed, and they are a physical team. That's why I was upset down the stretch with the officials, the lop-sided whistles down the stretch was hard to take in a game that was so physical the whole game. And when you come this far, and you're playing such a big game with so much at stake, and the guys have put so much into it, it matters how it's officiated. I know we don't complain about it, but this one was hard to take. The last 30, 40 seconds, some of those decisions were hard to take. And I felt bad for our guys because of it."
Jackson led the Mustangs with 22 points, followed by
Nate Boakye with 14,
Quincy Phillips with 13 and
Brayden Miner with 10.
Tiago Soares had nine rebounds to lead the team.
For Soares, Jackson,
Jazen Guillory and
Godwin Ilumoka, it was their final game in a Mustangs uniform.
"It was disappointing to end it here because I feel we could have won a few more games," Starr said. "This team came a long way this year. And I do feel that bringing a whole new group together for all intents and purposes, this team did a phenomenal job of coming together quickly and was very effective in the process. We didn't get blown out all year. We were in close games all year, we won the conference tournament down the stretch with two big wins against Hope and Benedictine, and then made what I would consider a really good showing in the national tournament. Both games showed resiliency and chemistry and camaraderie, and that's a credit to the guys buying in to what we are trying to do as a team."
