ADA, Okla. – The East Central University men's basketball team finished as the No. 5 seed in the 2019-20 Great American Conference Championship Tournament after falling to Henderson State, 99-94 in overtime, in final regular-season game of the 2019-20 season.  The Tigers (17-11, 11-11 GAC) also honored their four seniors, who were playing their final game at the Kerr Activities Center.

Photo Gallery

Scoring

• 1^st Half: 33-24
  • The opening 11 minutes were tight, with no team leading by more than 2
  • Game tied at 17, with 9:15 remaining on the clock
  • ECU used a 5-0 run to get a 5-point advantage over the next two minutes
  • The Reddies (20-8, 15-7 GAC) followed with a 4-1 run over 1:30 minutes to get within 2 (23-21)
  • The Tigers then pushed ahead for good in the stanza, with a 6-0 run over the next four minutes
  • The teams traded shots for the rest of the half
• 2^nd Half: 46-55 (79-79)
  • In the first six minutes HSU used a 13-4 run to cut the deficit to three (44-41)
  • ECU kept the lead around 3-7 points for the next four minutes
  • The Tigers then increased the advantage to 9 (62-51) over the next two minutes
  • ECU kept the lead around 8 for the next minute
  • The Reddies then went on a 10-4 run over the next three minutes to get within two (68-66)
  • HSU then added another 8-1 run to take a 74-69 advantage, with 1:15 left on the clock
  • The Tigers kept the deficit around 3-5 until the final 15 seconds
  • ECU was able to tie the game on a triple from Sr. Zac Neely at the buzzer to force overtime
• OT: 15-20 (94-99)
  • The Reddies took control of the extra stanza from the beginning
    • Used a 6-0 run in the first two minutes
  • HSU pushed the advantage to as many as 10 before the Tigers used a 7-2 run in the final minute to get it back to five

Tiger Quick Hits

• The Tigers honored their four seniors for the 2019-20 season
  • Jalan Brown, Bishop Coulter, Zac Neely and Camron Talley
• Jr. Caleb Williams garnered his first career double-double
  • 19 pts., 10 reb., 2 assists, 1 steal, 7-of-13 FG, 5-of-6 FT
    • Career high for rebounds and field goals made
  • Talley, Brown, So. Tylor Arnold and So. Matt Garriga also added double-digit point totals
    • Talley: 18 pts., 2 reb., 2 assists, 1 block, 2 steals, 5-of-13 FG, 8-of-10 FT
    • Brown: 15 pts., 3 reb., 1 steal, 7-of-10 FG
      • Season high for field goals made
    • Arnold: 10 pts., 5 reb., 3 assists,1 steal, 3-of-5 FG, 4-of-5 FT
    • Garriga: 11 pts., 5 reb., 3 assists, 2 steals, 4-of-11 FG, 3-of-9 3PT FG
      • Career high for assists
• Neely tallied a career-high 4 assists
  • 7 pts., 5 reb., 4 assists, 1 steal, 3-of-7 FG, 1-of-4 3PT FG
• ECU claimed the No. 5 seed at the 2019-20 GAC Tournament
  • Seventh- straight trip to the GAC Tournament

Up Next

• The Tigers will now prepare for their quarterfinal round game at the GAC Championship Tournament
  • Friday, March 6 vs. No. 4 Oklahoma Baptist – 12 p.m.
  • The winner will play Saturday, March 7 – 12 p.m.