Posted: Mar 09, 2019
LONGVIEW, Texas – The University of St. Thomas men's basketball team beat Huston-Tillotson, 77-71, Thursday in the Red River Athletic Conference quarterfinals at LeTourneau University.
The Celts (21-10) advance to Friday's 5:30 p.m. semifinals to meet Louisiana State University-Alexandria (28-2).
Paris Marquez scored 26 points, and had seven assists, and Orowo Eleyae added 17 points, six boards and two steals as UST beat the Rams for the second time this season.
It was a game that featured seven lead changes and six ties. UST held off two late charges from the Rams (13-13) in the final six minutes to move on.
St. Thomas was 24 of 64 from the floor, and Huston-Tillotson (13-13) was 26 of 68. Both teams had 43 rebounds.
UST fell behind by five with 7:56 to go in the first half when Courtney Julien converted a three-point play for Huston-Tillotson. But the Celts erased the deficit -- despite falling behind by four again during the next 3:10 -- when Marquez hit a three-pointer at the 3:10 mark to tie the game for the fifth time.
The Celts went on a 10-3 run until the 1:47 mark to take a seven-point lead on one of Marquez's six triples. Christian Wilson sank two free throws as the Rams got within 39-35, but Kennard Robinson buried a triple with 14 seconds left in the half to send the Celts into the break up seven.
UST was 12 of 35 from the floor in the first half. Huston-Tillotson was 15 of 35.
St. Thomas extended its lead to 12 with 15:48 remaining in the second half when Sam Flores sank three free throws. The Rams cut it to three on a triple by Alex Doche at the 9:28 mark. Keaton Shaw scored on the next possession to start a 6-0 run as the Celts climbed ahead, 60-51.
The Rams whittled it down again, drawing within 62-60 on a triple by Derrick Cook with 7:29 remaining. After Marquez buried a triple to push UST's lead out to five, the Rams scored the next five points to tie the game at 69 on Doche's triple with 2:42 to play.
But Eleyae answered with a big bucket after both teams missed on their ensuing possessions. The Celts got two stops on the defensive end, and Eleyae converted a feed from Paul Taulton with 27 seconds to go to give UST a four-point lead. Julien scored in the paint four seconds later as the Rams drew within two, but Robinson sank two free throws and then put the finishing touches on the win with a bucket before the buzzer.
Robinson finished with 12 points, four rebounds and three assists. Taulton added eight points and five rebounds.
The Celts were 20 of 25 from the free throw line. The Rams went 13 of 18 from the stripe.
