The UTEP Miners Men’s Basketball team lost in overtime 66-59 to the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in the Third Round of the Heritage Landscape Supply Group C-USA Basketball Championship at the Ford Center in Frisco, Texas on Thursday night.
The first half was a filled with runs, as Middle Tennessee scored the first four points in the game but UTEP went on a 9-2 run to take the lead. But the The Blue Raiders made the next seven points to retake the lead. The teams would trade buckets but Middle Tennessee would have a 25-21 lead at halftime.
The second half started with Middle Tennessee going on a 9-1 run that gave the Blue Raiders a double digit lead. With the season on the line and trailing by 12 points, the Miners went on massive 22-7 run that gave them the lead by three points with about six minutes left in regulation. The teams would exchange buckets and the game went into overtime 52-52.
In overtime each team scored a bucket, but then Middle Tennessee would go on a 5-0 run that gave them a 61-56 lead with 39 seconds left. Souley Boum would hit a three pointer to make it a two point game but the Blue Raiders would make their free throws to advance them in to the next round of the tournament.
The Miners had three players in double figures as Jamal Bieniemy scored 13, Souley Boum had 12 points and nine rebounds. Keonte Kennedy had a double double for the Miners scoring 11 points and 10 rebounds.