Mustangs Get Second Conference Victory

By Robby Gillespie
rgillespie@smu.edu

The SMU men’s basketball team has had trouble finishing out close games this season, but Mike Walker’s two free throws with two seconds left gave the Mustangs a 69-66 win over Rice (8-18, 3-9 C-USA) Saturday at Moody Coliseum.

SMU (8-17, 2-10 C-USA) earned its second conference win this season and ended its eight-game conference-losing streak.

“To come back off the mat game after game after game and play well…is a real tribute to these guys and their character,” SMU Head Coach Doherty said. “I’m just really proud of our team.”

The Mustangs led by three with five seconds on the clock before Aleks Perka’s lay-up cut the deficit to one. After Mike Walker’s clutch free throws, Rice’s Cory Pflieger missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.

“I was just thinking about making them,” Walker said. “I wasn’t thinking about anything else.”

The three possessions before Walker’s free throws, SMU had missed three front ends of one-and-ones.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, what’s going on? This isn’t fair,”’ Doherty said. “I was begging, I was pleading, I was saying all kinds of prayers…but we were fortunate to make plays down the stretch.”

SMU had four players score in double-digits. Robert Nyakundi and Mike Walker, who led the team with 14 points each, both hit four three-pointers.

Bamba Fall earned his third double-double of the season with ten points and 12 rebounds.

“I think that’s the way I should be playing,” said Fall, who also finished with four blocks. “I should be more aggressive and just challenge every shot.”

SMU built up a 16-point lead midway through the first half, until Rice caught fire, going on a 32-15 run to the 12:20 mark of the second half. The Owls sunk five of seven three-point attempts in that stretch.

“We were focused on trying to stop their sets,” Walker said. “They had to adjust and make three-point shots, and that’s exactly what they did.”

The Mustangs have a history of losing control of games in the final minutes of play this season. They lost to East Carolina at home by six, a game they were closely competing in all night. The following week, they lost at Tulsa by nine. On Feb. 4, they were beating Memphis with 12 minutes left before falling by 13. Then again at UAB on Feb. 14, SMU lost by three in the final seconds.

The difference tonight was… “a little luck, a little Bamba,” Doherty said.

Listen to the archived broadcast in the Sports Blog.