FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Taveion Hollingsworth scored 21 points including two free throws with 3.3 seconds remaining to lift Western Kentucky to a 69-67 win over Saint Mary’s in a first-spherical NIT sport Wednesday night.
Charles Bassey’s dunk with 35 seconds left tied the sport after Alex Ducas made a 3-pointer to present Saint Mary’s its first lead since midway thru the main half. Tommy Kuhse ran the clock down sooner than having the ball tipped away by Josh Anderson and Hollingsworth was fouled in transition driving demanding to the basket. A desperation 3-pointer by Matthias Tass omitted on the buzzer.
Bassey, the Conference USA participant of the 365 days, scored 10 of his 19 points in the final eight minutes and he grabbed 11 rebounds for his 17th double-double this season. Anderson and Luke Frampton added 10 points every.
The Hilltoppers (21-7) took the lead in the main half during a 15-3 fling sparked by 10 of Hollingsworth’s 13 first-half points. Anderson hit a pair of three-pointers for an 11-point lead sooner than the Gaels decrease it to 38-31 on the ruin.
Kuhse scored 17 points with 11 assists for his 2d double-double of the season to lead the 2-seed Gaels (14-10). Tass added 13 points and Ducas 11.
The three-seed Hilltoppers, the C-USA typical-season champs who misplaced an overtime occasion championship sport to North Texas, will capture on the winner of Friday’s Mississippi-Louisiana Tech sport in a quarterfinal on March 25.
___
For more AP school basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25
Supply:
Hollingsworth’s free throws lift WKU over Gaels in NIT
