But even the Choctaws have to be asking themselves what they have to do to win a game against East Texas Baptist in Ornelas Gymnasium, as the Tigers clawed their way to a stunning 80-79 overtime upset of MC before a loud crowd of 1,197 in "The House of Blues."
ETBU (10-11, 10-9) rallied from a double-digit deficit in the second half behind the play of Cedric Isom, Chris Isom and Ronnie Lewis, and the Tigers outscored MC (19-3, 17-3) 8-7 in overtime to stun the Choctaws.
The victory snapped an 11-game winning streak for the Choctaws, who have already clinched the ASC East Division championship and were ranked No. 1 in the region entering Thursday's game. It was also the third straight loss for the Choctaws to the Tigers in Ornelas Gym going back to the 2002-03 season, and all three have been particularly excruciating -- an overtime loss in 2003 that allowed ETBU to clinch the East Division championship, and a last-second loss last season when the Tigers' Cedric Isom hit a game-winning jumper in the final seconds.
The victory also could provide a springboard for the Tigers into the ASC tournament, as ETBU entered the night in a three-way tie for second place in the East. One of those caught up in the logjam, Louisiana College, dropped an 82-79 loss at LeTourneau to fall one game behind ETBU. LC visits Ornelas Gym on Saturday afternoon in the Tigers' home finale that will have big postseason implications.
"I'm just very proud of my team tonight," said a drained ETBU coach Bert West, who is 4-2 against the powerful Choctaws since the start of the 2002-03 season. "We didn't play well in stretches, but we competed and played hard for 45 minutes. That was a very good basketball team on the other end tonight and we hadn't had much luck this season against the really good teams. This is the kind of win we've been looking for all season, so hopefully we're hitting our stride at the right time."
ETBU's Cedric Isom, the leading scorer in the ASC and a bona fide All-American candidate, carried the Tigers in the second half when the Choctaws had several opportunities to run away with a double-digit lead. Isom began breaking down a stifling MC defense on the way to scoring 21 points in the second half, including 11 of 13 free throws. Isom finished with a game-high 25 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists.
His brother, Chris Isom, added 16 points and 10 boards and scored the game-winner in overtime on a short jumper with only 28 seconds left. After a series of timeouts on the other end, Mississippi College's Lonnie Vasquez missed a 3-pointer and Jason Walker's desperation heave at the buzzer also fell short, setting off a wild Tiger celebration at midcourt.
ETBU also got huge contributions from senior Ronnie Lewis, who scored 13 big points -- including a pair of free throws that tied the game at 72-72 with 30 seconds left. The Tigers forced a miss by Orlando Lewis on the other end, but Rodney Calhoun's half-court attempt at the buzzer missed high off the glass and sent the game into the extra period.
The Choctaws took a 79-76 lead with 2:17 left, but ETBU clawed to within one on Cory Cooper's jump shot that set up Chris Isom's game-winner.
MC led by as much as 11 points in the second half before ETBU rallied with a parade to the free-throw line. The Tigers took 44 free throw attempts on the night and connected on 36 of them.
Cooper finished with 10 points, while Calhoun added 12 off the bench to give the Tigers five players in double figures.
MC was led by Tyler Winford's 15 points and got another 13 from Marcus Evans.