Box Score SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Locked in another hard-fought battle in the Puerto Rico Basketball Classic, University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball suffered a gut-wrenching loss on a last-second shot from College of Saint Rose, who won 44-42 on Thursday afternoon. The Cougars fall to 2-4 on the season and they will finish their Thanksgiving trip with a 5 p.m. (3 p.m. CST) tip against University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez tomorrow, Nov. 25.
Sioux Falls got out to an early lead with
Drew Guebert and
Clint Thomas both connecting on early buckets. The Cougars' first half lead reached its largest at 15-7 and USF remained in front following a tip-in from
Daniel Hurtt that put them ahead 19-14 with less than five minutes to play in the first half.
The Cougars led nearly all of the first half, but Saint Rose went on a late run as they began to press and force USF into turnovers. With six consecutive points to close the half, Saint Rose took a 23-22 lead into the break.
The second half was tight the whole time, as USF managed a lead, but Saint Rose would control the game down the stretch. Thomas and Hurtt gave USF a slight edge coming out of the intermission as Thomas battled for a layup and Hurtt tipped in another miss to put the Cougars up 28-25.
College of Saint Rose pushed ahead shortly after, capitalizing on USF's turnovers, but the Cougars wouldn't go away. Guebert hit a three to cut USF's deficit to two points and after a CSR free throw,
Clint Thomas tied the game at 39-39 with less than two minutes to play.
A three-point play put College of Saint Rose back ahead by three, but Thomas struck again for his fourth 3-pointer of the game, tying the game at 42-42 with less than 40 seconds to play. College of Saint Rose grabbed the rebound of their first attempt to go ahead and with 1.6 seconds left, Mical-Ryan Boyd hit a deep, contested jumper for the game-winning basket.
Thomas led the Cougars with 14 points while Hurtt poured in 13. Guebert led a trio of Cougars on the board, posting nine rebounds while Thomas and Hurtt added eight and seven, respectively.
