Extra time: UTEP men survive Cal State-Bakersfield in overtime

The UTEP men's basketball team's 68-67 overtime victory against Cal State-Bakersfield was about redemption.

For Shamar Givance, his game-winning drive to the basket and two free throws with 3.1 seconds remaining atoned for a missed free throw and bad foul in the final 10 seconds of regulation that led to the overtime.

For UTEP's other best player on this night, Mario McKinney, it marked the return from a one-game suspension and he finished as a difference maker with a team-leading 17 points and eight rebounds.

More:C-USA men's basketball standings

What they said

UTEP looked beaten when Roadrunner Cedquavios Hunter hit a contested 10 footer with 7 seconds remaining to put his team up 67-66. The Miners were out of timeouts, so Givance had to take the inbounds pass and drive the length of the court. He got to the lane and dished to McKinney, but Givance was fouled on the pass.

At that point the Miners were a dismal 10-of-19 from the line and Givance was 1-of-3, but he left no doubt on the two winners.

"It was my second opportunity, I knew I had to capitalize on it this time," said Givance, who missed a free-throw with his team up 55-52 with 10 seconds remaining in regulation and fouled CSUB's Kaleb Higgins seven seconds later on a desperation 3-pointer that led to tying free throws. "That's what was on my mind: I got a second opportunity, I had to make the best of it."

He did and for the second consecutive night UTEP pulled out a win in a game it could have lost and a game it also could have won much more easily.

"It shows our toughness, it shows our will to win, it shows how close we are as a team despite having 10 newcomers," said Tae Hardy, who had eight points and five assists. "We know how to fight through adversity. We've had adversity since our first scrimmage and it's carried over game-by-game."

McKinney big

On Tuesday's victory over Alcorn State part of the adversity was the absence of McKinney, who was suspended for undisclosed reasons. He returned Wednesday in a big way, giving the UTEP offense a spark it needed.

With UTEP having an awful night from the free-throw line, he made 5-of-6 in the overtime.

"He was really good," said coach Joe Golding, who declined to make McKinney available in the post-game press conference. "He's a special talent, talent is not the issue with Mario. He's been extremely well-coached by multiple people in his career. He's very talented, he can score the basketball. He gave us a lift tonight no question."

Familiar problems

UTEP, playing without leading scorer Otis Frazier III (he has an MRI on an injured knee Monday but was moving well in street clothes), led by 14 early in the second half and had several two-score leads late in regulation. The Miners couldn't take control in part because for the second straight night the Miners couldn't make free throws and couldn't rebound.

CSUB won the boards 44-30, enabling it to compete when it was outshot 49-39 percent but had 11 more field-goal attempts.

The Miners forced 13 first-half turnovers to take a 13-point lead to the locker room, but the Roadrunners charged in front with an 18-3 run and the game was close the rest of the way. CSUB had four turnovers in the second half.

CSUB's biggest lead of the game was early in overtime when it went up 59-57, but the Miners, for all their problems, didn't blink.

"Toughness, toughness," Golding said. "We're not playing smart on some stuff, we have to clean a bunch of stuff up. That's on coaches. Our toughness and our grit, I'm extremely proud of our guys."

Up next

UTEP closes the Jim Forbes Classic with a 2 p.m. game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the Don Haskins Center. Bakersfield plays Alcorn State in the 11 a.m. game. The game will be on 600 ESPN El Paso and streamed on CUSAtv. General admission tickets are $9.15.

Note, this is officially not a tournament so there will be no champion or all-tournament team announced.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP men survive Cal State-Bakersfield in overtime