Orem, Utah — Junior Patrick Mitchell sent his Fighting Sioux teammates and coaching staff through a roller coaster of emotions in the final five seconds of Friday's first semifinal at the Great West Conference Tournament presented by Pepsi, but in the end it was his two free throws that sent them to Saturday's championship game.
Mitchell's free throws secured a 65-63 victory over seventh-seeded Houston Baptist as UND (18-14) found a way to win another gut-wrenching contest, this time by two points after winning its quarterfinal matchup on Thursday by just one point.
“This team has found several ways to win during these last two weeks of the season and tonight was no exception,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “They never give in, never give up and the best part has been someone different has stepped up in each of these close games.
“Our guys believe in each other and good teams have multiple guys that can make plays. We have shown that in these last four games that have come down to the wire.”
With a 63-60 lead and time winding down, Mitchell was whistled for a foul on a 3-point attempt by All-Great West first teamer Andrew Gonzalez. The HBU senior and league's leading scorer calmly sank all three to tie the score for the just the second time in the contest.
Jones called timeout in between Gonzalez' second and third free throws to set up a play and freshman Aaron Anderson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) found Mitchell wide open down the court, but as the six-foot-eight forward tried to make his move to the basket, HBU was called for a foul with 1.6 seconds to play.
Mitchell made the first and tried to intentionally miss the second, but his attempt hit high off the rim before falling through, giving HBU one last desperation chance. The Huskies never got a shot off as their 13th turnover allowed UND to run out the clock and clinch its first league title game appearance since the 2007-08 North Central Conference Tournament.
Mitchell finished with 14 points and freshman Troy Huff (Milwaukee, Wis.) added a team-high 16 points to lead four Sioux scorers in double figures. Freshman Jamal Webb (Buffalo, N.Y.) added 11 and senior Derek Benter (Crosby, N.D.) chipped in with 10 off the bench.
Gonzalez scored a game-high 24 points and provided another exciting finish as he did not want his stellar career to come to a close. He hit a 3-pointer with 3:47 to play that put HBU in the lead for the first time since holding a slim 34-33 edge at halftime.
Webb, who also had seven assists and six rebounds in the contest, had an answer though as his 3-pointer from the near corner rattled home to put UND right back in the lead at 60-58.
Gonzalez would tie the game at 60-60 with a pair of free throws at the 2:11 mark. Webb was fouled on the next two UND possessions, but made only one of those four attempts to give Gonzalez a chance late in the contest to be a hero.
Huff literally stole that opportunity as he picked Gonzalez clean on the top of the key and would eventually make it to the line where the freshman buried both of his chances to make it a 63-60 contest.
Now with only a chance to tie, Gonzalez took a deep look from well beyond the NBA three-point line that is painted on UVU's home court, but Mitchell was too aggressive on his close out, putting Gonzalez on the line.
Benter had eight rebounds for the second straight game, equaling his season high. The Sioux held a 38-29 edge on the glass, but HBU used several offensive rebounds early in the contest to jump out to a 17-6 advantage.
UND showed maturity once again in the tournament as a 14-0 run midway through the half erased that deficit completely. Mitchell and Huff both hit 3-pointers to spark the much-needed surge.
The Sioux would go on to hold a six-point lead in the opening half as Mitchell had 11 of his 14 in the first 20 minutes, but Gonzalez would not allow UND to pull away. He scored HBU's final six points of the stanza to give the Huskies a one-point lead at the break.
Huff moved to within a point of tying Scott Guldseth (1989-90) for the all-time scoring record by a UND freshman. Guldseth scored 418 points during his rookie season and Huff sits at 417 going into Saturday's title game.
UND will play the winner of the No. 1 Utah Valley vs. No. 4 South Dakota matchup that followed the first semifinal. The game will be televised live on Channel 317 for Midcontinent cable subscribers. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. CT.
– Go Sioux –
