The first ticket to the men’s NCAA tournament was punched Saturday night, and it took overtime for it to happen.
The Ohio Valley conference championship between No. 5 seed Southeast Missouri State and No. 2 seed Tennessee Tech was a wild affair, with the Redhawks emerging with an 89–82 overtime victory to clinch a spot in the Big Dance.
The Redhawks led for a majority of regulation, but the Golden Eagles put together a late scoring spurt that included a Brett Thompson three with 15 seconds to play to give Tennessee Tech a 73–72 lead.
However, on the ensuing possession, Tennessee Tech wing Jaylen Sebree fouled Southeast Missouri State’s Chris Harris on a three-point attempt with three seconds to play. Harris made all three free throws to give the Red Hawks a 75–73 lead. The Golden Eagles’ only hope to either win the game at the buzzer or force overtime was to make a full court pass and desperation jumper.
And that’s exactly what they did.
Sebree atoned for his mistake on the defensive possession by finding Diante Wood on a full court pass. Wood made a contested turnaround jumper at the top of the arc as time expired. Tennessee Tech thought they had the game won on a three-pointer, but replay review indicated that Wood’s foot was on the line, and was ruled a made two-point basket to send the game to overtime tied at 75.
However, in the extra frame, it was all Southeast Missouri State. Redhawks guard Phillip Russell scored seven of his 21 points in overtime to help Southeast Missouri State pull away for good and officially punch the first ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
