x
Breaking News
More () »

Frazier's Buzzer-Beater Paces Javelinas to Tourament Opener Upset

It's becoming a norm for Marcus Frazier as the 5-10 senior banked in a buzzer beater from 30 feet out to advance Texas A&M University-Kingsville (19-11) to the NCAA South Central Regional semifinals with a 74-71 victory over 2017 Lone Star Conference regular season and tournament champion and No. 17 University of Texas of the Permian Basin (26-6) Saturday afternoon in Lockridge Arena.

It's becoming a norm for Marcus Frazier as the 5-10 senior banked in a buzzer beater from 30 feet out to advance Texas A&M University-Kingsville (19-11) to the NCAA South Central Regional semifinals with a 74-71 victory over 2017 Lone Star Conference regular season and tournament champion and No. 17 University of Texas of the Permian Basin (26-6) Saturday afternoon in Lockridge Arena.

The Javelinas will battle No. 3 West Texas A&M University (25-8) at 6 p.m. tomorrow evening. The Buffs defeated No. 6 Texas A&M University-Commerce 97-86 in the first game. The win was the first ever postseason victory for Texas A&M-Kingsville.

NOTE: There will be another watch party at Green Jay Bar and Grill tomorrow. Live stats, audio and video will be available.

They entered as big underdogs with the NCAA South Central Regional poll giving the Hogs a 23 percent chance to win the game.

Leading up to the buzzer beater, Trey Sumpter swatted away a layup attempt with 5.4 seconds remaining and Christian Bambrook collected the rebound, giving the Javelinas the opportunity to upset the Falcons in regulation.

Frazier finished with 15 points off the bench on 3-of-4 shooting from three-point range. Duan Wright had a game-high 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting and a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point range and Trey Sumpter added 14 points on 4-of-6. Bambrook collected a game-high six boards.

WHAT THEY SAID

Head coach Johnny Estelle – "Hats off to a great UTPB team. It's indicative of what Lone Star Conference basketball is all about. I'm so proud of our guys and the way they all played. Today was truly a team effort and today's victory showed what NCAA Division II basketball is all about.

Marcus Frazier – "I'm so speechless right now. We all worked so hard to get to where we are and I'm happy to be advancing."

Duan Wright – "I've been with coach for four seasons and this is the best feeling. We all knew what it was going to take and executed down the stretch."

FIRST HALF

Foul trouble plagued the Hogs with 12 student-athletes receiving playing time in the stanza.

Wright's triple with just over 13:00 remaining cut Kingsville's deficit to 14-10. After forcing a miss down low, Bambrook's tip led to a second chance three-pointer – a corner triple by Caelan Neal – and Wright followed with his second three of the half to put TAMUK ahead with 11:30 remaining. The third from behind-the-arc capped off a 9-2 run for the Blue and Gold.

The success from long range continued out of the under-12 media with Sumpter joining the party. Will West and Frazier went back-to-back from long distance to give the Javelinas a three-point cushion with 6:51 left in the first.

The pace continued to favor the Javelinas with Deuce hitting his second triple of the frame out of the under-eight media to give the Hogs a 10-1 run. The lead extended to nine for TAMUK, highlighted by a rejection by Robert Stevenson at the 4:20 mark.

Wright's hot first half made him the game's first player in double figures as he dialed up his third from long distance to make it 37-29. Frazier followed with a drive straight to the bucket for the bunny and double digit lead.

The Javelinas led 43-34 at halftime with Wright and Frazier in double figures with 11 points and 10 points, respectively.

A&M-Kingsville's success from three-point range offset UTPB's near perfection from the charity stripe as the Falcons went 17-of-20 from the line, scoring half of their points from the free throw line. Texas A&M-Kingsville was 9-of-18 from long distance with five players registering a triple. The Javelina bench outscored Texas Permian Basin's 22-to-14 but two bigs – Taylor and Thomas Diaz – picked up three fouls in the opening half.

The Falcons had just eight points on their last 18 possessions.

SECOND HALF

Daeshon Francis put Permian Basin on his back, scoring nine points in the opening three minutes to cut Kingsville's lead to four.

West slowed down the UTPB momentum with an offensive rebound in between two Falcon bigs and capped off second chance opportunity with mid-range jumper to extend the Javelina lead to six.

Checking into the second half for the first time, Bambrook drew a charge coming out of the under-16 media as the Hogs lead remained half-a-dozen.

Up three with 11:56 remaining, Wright's emphatic dunk gave him 13 points and moments later, Bambrook connected from long distance to put TAMUK in front by eight.

A Falcons run cut the A&M-Kingsville lead to one with 5:38 left and the game was knotted up with 4:58 remaining. That was just for a moment as Wright's fourth triple regained the lead for TAMUK.

UTPB continued to drive to the hoop and chipped away with crucial free throws, and took its first lead since early in the first – 69-68 – with 2:56 remaining.

The Falcon led was just for a second as Wright drove to the hoop for the and-one with 1:44 remaining, putting the Hogs in front 71-70. On the ensuing defensive possession, Stevenson picked up a swipe.

Tied at 71-all with 30 seconds remaining, Sumpter and Bambi combined for the two biggest plays of the ballgame as Sumpter swatted away a layup with 5.4 seconds left to play and Bambrook picked up the rebound, giving the Javelinas the opportunity to seal the win.

They did just that, knocking off the LSC champions.

UTPB

Francis led the club with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and Johnnie Lacy added 15 points, going a perfect 13-of-13 from the charity stripe. Zeldric King provided 13 points off the bench.

NEXT UP

The Javelinas and Buffs battle at 6 p.m. CT tomorrow.

SOCIAL MEDIA

For complete coverage of Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball, please follow @JavelinaMBB on Twitter and @JavelinaMBB on Instagram, like the /JavelinaMBB Facebook page, and visit the official home of Texas A&M-Kingsville Athletics at JavelinaAthletics.com.

Before You Leave, Check This Out