Miraculous Comeback Lifts Cowboys Over UTSA

NewsOn6.com

STILLWATER, Oklahoma – The Cowboys might be young – especially without their only senior on the court.  But that doesn't mean they can't be resilient.

Freshman guard Cezar Guerrero led a miraculous comeback as the Cowboys pulled off a 90-85 overtime victory against Texas San Antonio on Wednesday night.

OSU guard Keiton Page watched from the sideline with a right foot injury as the inexperienced Cowboys fell behind for much of the game.

The contest appeared to slip away from the Cowboys late as they trailed by 11 with 2:10 to play and by six points with just 18 seconds to play.

But Guerrero had other plans.

With 15 seconds to play, he took the ball and drained a jumper, picking up a foul on UTSA's Kannon Burrage in the process. Guerrero knocked down the free throw to pull the Cowboys to within 77-74.

On the ensuing UTSA possession, Guerrero immediately stole the ball and drained a 3-pointer to tie the game and complete his span of six points in four seconds.

Roadrunners guard Sei Paye, who drained a game-winning 3-pointer the previous night against ORU, was not able to repeat his magic as he missed a jumper at the end, resulting in overtime.

The Cowboys took advantage of the extra time, trailing by four in OT but finishing off the night with a 9-0 run to seal it.

Guerrero was the man the entire night for the Cowboys, scoring 29 points, including eight 3-pointers. He scored 14 of those points in the final 5:06 of playing time to send the crowd into a frenzy.

He tied an OSU freshman record for points in a game set by James Anderson in 2007 and Byron Houston in 1989.

Despite some tough shooting to start, Cowboy forward Le'Bryan Nash came back to score 18 points, as OSU's two star freshmen combined for 47.

Big man Philip Jurick had his second straight 10-rebound game and guard Reger Dowell and Jean-Paul Olukemi each reached double digits.

Despite the close game, Oklahoma State asserted itself on the boards, out rebounding the smaller Roadrunners by a margin of 47-28.

The game was officially the second round of the NIT Season Tip-Off, and the Cowboys punched their ticket to Madison Square Garden with the victory.

OSU will play in New York on Nov. 23 against Stanford, with the time to be determined.