Texas players are clutch
That is what T.J. told Coach Coleman earlier this week and last night he proved how prophetic he was and how right he was. T.J. hit a shot with about a second left in the game that will be legendary. The Mustangs did not play well but continued to hang around even after falling down by 10 late in the 2nd half. But the Mustangs seemed to wake up and pulled back to within 2 points. They could not close the gap or take the lead in the final minutes despite getting 3 defensive stops against Chadron. Then the Mustangs were down to the last play. Coach called a time out and designed a play to tie the game and get it into OT. But Chadron overplayed and JW could not find T.J. inside; instead T.J. popped out on the right wing, almost out of bounds in front of the Mustang bench when JW got him the ball; a Chadron Eagle defender flying towards him, T.J. let it fly. The ball found NOTHING BUT THE BOTTOM OF THE NET!!!! With .4 left on the clock the Mustangs had retaken the lead for the first time in the 2nd half. And that is when it counts.
Give the Stangs credit. Stefan Mirabal’s outside shot wasn’t back to his normal play so he found a way to score 21 by driving and getting to the basket. Eli Crevelone started making outside shots, a couple of 3′s and a stellar turn around jumper off the board against tough defense helped spark and sustain the run at the end. Jaron again contributed with tough defense, rebounding and great ball handling. JW ran the game well against a stifling Eagle defense limiting turnovers that could have been costly.
I told Chad before the game that I expected him to get a dunk and he came up with a spectacular jam off of a lob. He contributed not only with points but good defense and rebounding. Chuck also came up big, he hit a 3 in the first half that kept the Mustangs in the game and his defense inside has improved; he got a couple of blocks that slowed down the inside game of Chadron. It was truly a team effort. No one stood out as having a great game, but everyone contributed in some way that helped the Mustangs get a win and remain perfect at home. It’s hard to remember sometimes how young this team is. I’ve said it several times already, they aren’t perfect and at times they aren’t pretty but they are exciting and last night just added another chapter to the saga.
