From SWOSU Sports Info.
Doug Self, Sports Information Director
ADA – SWOSU outscored East Central 9-2 in the final 27 seconds, using three pointers from Trent Washington, Martell Collins and Kenyan Borders to knock off the Tigers 58-57 on Thursday evening at the Kerr Activities Center.
Borders buried the game-winning triple after an East Central player missed the front end of a one-and-one with 11 seconds to play. Borders – who hit his second game-winner in the last three games – took the outlet pass from Washington and sized up his defender before rising and firing for the deciding basket.
Washington scored 12 points in the first half and finished with a team-best 16 to lead the Bulldogs while Emeche Wells added 14 and Borders moved into double figures with 11 after his final bucket. Collins struggled shooting the ball but finished with eight points and seven rebounds while Ayo Ojo also had seven boards while playing tough defense inside against the Tigers.
SWOSU took their only lead of the game on Borders final basket with 2.4 seconds and win despite shooting just 35.5% (22-of-62) from the field and 31.8% (7-of-22) from 3-point range. The Bulldogs were outrebounded by ECU 38-37 but only turned the ball over eight times while forcing 13 by the home team.
“I thought our guys showed a lot of courage and heart and our team stayed together tonight as we faced some adversity,” SWOSU Coach Bob Battisti said following the game. “We never gave up and kept fighting until the end. I thought Ayo played well defensively in the second half and Martell and Trent made big shots that allowed Kenyan a chance to be the hero.”
SWOSU improves to 5-2 (1-1 GAC) on the year with the victory and they are improve their win streak to three games while also moving to 3-1 in true road games this season. The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday when they host Hillsdale Baptist at 3:00 pm in the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.