BOX SCORE
MARSHALL, Minn. – Jordan Miller connected on a 3-pointer as time expired in double overtime to lift Southwest Minnesota State to a thrilling 89-86 victory over Concordia, St. Paul on Friday night in Marshall.
Miller finished with a career-high 27 points on 9 of 16 shooting with six 3-point field goals. It was the first time SMSU won a game on a last-second field goal since Travis Krenske drilled a shot to beat Wayne State on Jan. 13, 2007.
Scott Roehl added 12 points and tied a career-high with 16 rebounds. Trent Carlson tied a season-high with 13 points connecting on four 3-pointers.
SMSU (10-12, 7-11 NSIC) trailed 72-65 with 1:00 left in regulation, but Miller hit three 3-pointers in the final 45 seconds and the Mustangs used costly missed free throws by Concordia (13-9, 10-8 NSIC) to send the game into overtime.
CU's Brent Barz had a chance to win the game with 1.3 seconds left in regulation, but he missed two free throws as the game moved into overtime at 76.
The victory for SMSU snapped a six-game overtime losing streak dating back to Nov. 16, 2007.
Peter Olafeso led CU with a career-high 28 points and added nine rebounds. Barz added 21 points on 10 of 15 shooting and grabbed six rebounds
Both teams shot well from the field, but struggled at the foul line. CU shot 51 percent (34 of 67) from 3-point range, but just 11 of 19 from the free throw line. SMSU ended the game shooting 48 percent (34 of 71), including connecting on 10 3-pointers, but was just 11 of 17 from the line.
CU held a 72-65 lead with 1:00 left in regulation, before Scott Roehl scored with 56 seconds left to trim the lead to 72-67. Following a missed CU free throw, Miller cut the lead to 72-70 with a 3-pointer with 45 seconds on the clock.
Peter Olafeso made a pair of free throws with 28 seconds remaining to make the score 74-70, before Miller struck again with a 3-pointer with 22 seconds on the clock to make the score 74-73. Olafeso again made two free throws to push the margin to 76-73, before Miller drilled another long-range jumper to tie the game with 11 seconds left in regulation.
The two teams scored just two points in overtime, combining to make just 2 of 9 shots. SMSU had a chance to win the game in overtime, but failed to get a shot off on its final possession.
In double overtime, SMSU gained an 83-80 lead with 3:00 left on a jumper by Lavione West, but CU rallied with a Olafeso 3-pointer to tie the game at the 2:33 mark.
Roehl hit one of two free throws to give SMSU a short-lived lead, before CU's Isiah Thomas regained the lead for the Golden Bears at the 1:48 mark with a jumper to make the score 85-84.
Miller then gave SMSU the lead back with a pair of free throws with 1:11 remaining, but Olafeso answered making one of two free throws to tie the game at 86 with1:02 the board.
SMSU then missed a chance to take the lead missing a jumper with 44 seconds left, setting up a chance for CU to win the game. Olafeso took the potential game-winning shot, but missed with eight seconds left and Roehl grabbed the rebound and called timeout with three seconds on the clock.
Miller then grabbed the in-bounds pass and dribbled to the 3-point line before launching the game-winner as time expired.
SMSU started the game strong and built a 22-15 lead at the 9:27 mark following a layup by Williams Giddings.
SMSU would then struggle from the field and score just three points in the next seven minutes as CU answered with a 17-3 run to push the lead to 34-25 with 2:51 remaining in the half.
The Mustangs answered with a Scott Roehl field goal and a 3-pointer by Trent Carlson to cut the CU led to 34-30, but the Golden Bears countered with four straight points to extend the lead back to eight points, before Jordan Miller closed the half with a 3-pointer to cut CU's lead to 38-33 at halftime.
Concordia shot 61 percent (17 of 28) from the field in the opening half and held a 22-12 advantage in points in the paint.
SMSU will close out its two-game homestand tomorrow night taking on St. Cloud State at 8 p.m.
