The UT Tyler men and women's basketball teams entered Thursday's home tilt against Austin College at the Herrington Patriot Center riding six-game winning streaks. The Patriot women's streak is now seven as UT Tyler built up a 28-point second half lead before holding off the Kangaroos to win 80-60.

In the men's game, UT Tyler suffered through one its of worst shooting efforts of the season, and still had a chance to win it, but Brandon Weasby's last-second turnaround jumper fell short to give Austin College a 54-52 win.

The UT Tyler women (13-8, 13-6) are now tied for first place in the American Southwest Conference East standings, along with Louisiana College. The UT Tyler men fall to 11-11 (11-8 in ASC) and remain in second place in the ASC East.

Both teams will play their final home game of the season Saturday against University of the Ozarks. Them women are scheduled to tip off at 1 p.m. with the men to follow at 3 p.m. at the Herrington Patriot Center.

Women

UT Tyler continued one streak and erased another Thursday, holding off Austin College, 80-60. The Patriots won their seventh consecutive game and also posted their first-ever win over Austin College in four tries. Austin College won this season's first meeting between the two teams, 74-69.

UT Tyler is tied for first in the ASC East with Louisiana College, and has three games left to play, one of them at LC, so Deike wants her kids to enjoy the win, but remember there is still work to be done.

"We have to maintain where we are," Deike said. "We can't peak and then go downhill, but I am really proud. I want my players to relish this and enjoy it, and bask in the limelight of every thing they've accomplished."

Sophomore forward Katelynn Denney led the way with 16 points and freshman Kasey Buggs finished with a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

Also finishing in double figures were sophomores RaTonya Hunter, Shamonica Shead and Sarah Stanley. Hunter scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds, Shead finished with 10 points and seven boards and Stanley added 10 points and dished three assists.

Austin College guard Stephanie Knudson was the lone Lady Kangaroo in double figures, finishing with 12 points.

UT Tyler fell behind 3-0 at the start of the game, but once Denney scored to give the Patriots a 4-3 lead with 18:37 remaining in the first half, UT Tyler never trailed again. The sophomore quartet of Denney, Stanley, Shead and Hunter combined to score 32 points in the opening frame alone.

Austin College made 50 percent of its shots in the first half, but UT Tyler forced 16 Lady Roos turnovers. Hunter punctuated the Patriots effort by stealing an Austin College pass in the closing seconds, going coast to coast with a layup to give UT Tyler a 45-28 lead at halftime.

The Patriots' onslaught continued in the second half.

"That was some of the best basketball we've played," Deike said. "The whole game came down to defense. You have to play great defense and take them out of the game plan, which is what we were able to do."

A basket by Austin College post Ceren Unal made the score 47-30 with 18:45 left in the game. Austin College didn't register another field goal until the 12:17 mark of the contest. Meanwhile, UT Tyler turned its 17-point lead into a 61-33 advantage with 12:53 remaining.

Then things began to get interesting.

Austin College turned up its defensive intensity, forcing seven consecutive UT Tyler turnovers that the Lady Roos turned into 12 unanswered points. A basket by Unal made the score 61-45 with 8:40 left to play. UT Tyler desperately needed to break Austin College's run, and Denney did the honors, hitting a jumper to make the score 63-45 with 8:23 remaining.

"It's hard when you have a lead like that to maintain," Deike said. ""You can't keep playing the same kind of game. Austin College got a lot more physical, and when the entire game goes to 3-point shooting, some of those are going to go in. That changes the entire game."

Austin College was shooting 30 percent from 3-point range entering the game. A big reason for that was Knudson, who ranked second in the ASC, averaging 2.21 3-pointers per game. But Knudson was not a factor in Thursday's game as the sophomore from Birdville missed her first nine attempts from three-point range. Knudson finally connected from beyond the arc with 4:22 left to play, cutting UT Tyler's lead to 68-54.

UT Tyler never allowed Austin College to get any closer.

The Patriots, in just the second-year of their program, have assured themselves of their first winning season (went 8-17 last year). UT Tyler would also have qualified for the ASC Tournament, but are not eligible because the school is undergoing a provisional period with NCAA Division III athletics.

"A lot of people ask me about what we think about not going to the tournament, but we don't even talk about it," Deike said. "Not going to the tournament is not a huge thing, its just part of the program, part of what the NCAA does, and that's okay. We are just trying to be the best we can be right now."

Men

UT Tyler's offense never got on track, and despite an admirable comeback in the closing minutes, the Patriots ultimately fell short 54-52 to Austin College.

UT Tyler made just 14 of 53 shots, and at one point went over 10 minutes without a field goal. But even with the Patriots struggles, UT Tyler erased a 13-point deficit, and had a chance to win or tie the game in the closing seconds.

"In our two years, it was probably our most difficult night shooting," said UT Tyler head coach Matt Wallis. "It was a difficult night all around, but that was a testament to Austin College, which did a good job defensively. We didn't get a whole lot of open looks, and when we did, we didn't make them."

UT Tyler's offense began to come alive late in the second half with junior Brandon Hobbs doing the work. Hobbs scored four points in a row for UT Tyler to cut the deficit to 45-42 with 4:28 remaining.

Austin College was able to stay in front, thanks to guard J.P. Johnson and forward Michael Sissney. Johnson scored six of his game-high 17 points in final seven minutes, and Sissney scored six of the Kangaroos last seven points.

UT Tyler finally evened the game with under a minute to play on a 3-pointer from Brandon Weasby. The sophomore guard pump faked to get Johnson in the air, and he quickly went around him and tossed up a long-range shot at the top of the key to tie the game at 51-51 with 33.2 seconds remaining.

Austin College had one final answer. The Kangaroos drained nearly 30 seconds off the clock before Sissney banked a jumper off the glass to give AC a 53-51 lead with 4.3 seconds left.

UT Tyler's George Gordon, who played quarterback in high school, had the difficult task of throwing a full-court pass to try and get UT Tyler a last-second shot to tie. Gordon flung his pass right into the arms of Joe Henderson, who flipped a quick pass to Patrick Branche, but Branche was fouled trying to make a layup with 2.4 seconds left.

Branche made the first, but missed the second, and Austin College's Kyle May rebounded the ball and was fouled. May made one of two free throws, giving UT Tyler one final chance with .7 seconds left. Gordon launched another perfect full-court pass, this time to Weasby, who spun and flung up a shot that fell short.

Weasby led UT Tyler with 14 points and Patrick Branche added 12 for the Patriots in the loss.

"We definitely didn't give up," Wallis said. "To shoot that poorly and be in the game, we were definitely fortunate. We did have looks at the end with a chance to tie or a chance to win at the end, it was just one of those nights."

Men

Austin College 54, UT Tyler 52

AUSTIN COLLEGE (6-16, 5-14)
Anthony Holman 5-10 6-8 17; J.P. Johnson 5-12 2-2 15; Michael Sissney 2-2 2-3 6; Kyle May 2-3 1-2 5; Emmanuel Nwelue 1-1 1-3 3; Brian Hambrick 1-4 0-0 2; Chris Caudle 1-5 0-0 2; Parker Hammons 1-2 0-0 2; James Hill 0-3 2-2 2; Jansen Trotter 0-0 0-0 0; Adam Shor 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-44 14-20 54.

UT TYLER (11-11, 11-8)
Brandon Weasby 4-8 4-4 14; Patrick Branche 2-9 8-14 12; Brandon Hobbs 2-4 2-3 6; Demetrius Blair 2-3 0-0 6; Joe Henderson 2-13 2-3 6; Curtis Clark 0-0 3-6 3; Ryan Salters 1-7 1-2 3; George Gordon 1-4 0-0 2; Jamal Vanderbilt 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 14-53 20-32 52.

Halftime-Austin College 26-22.

3-point goals-Austin College 4-15 (J.P. Johnson 3-7; Anthony Holman 1-4; Kyle May 0-1; Brian Hambrick 0-2; Chris Caudle 0-1), UT Tyler 4-12 (Brandon Weasby 2-3; Demetrius Blair 2-3; Joe Henderson 0-3; Ryan Salters 0-1; George Gordon 0-1; Jamal Vanderbilt 0-1). Fouled out-Austin College-None, UT Tyler-Joe Henderson. Rebounds-Austin College 36 (Michael Sissney 8), UT Tyler 34 (Patrick Branche 13). Assists-Austin College 8 (Kyle May 3), UT Tyler 6 (Joe Henderson 2). Total fouls-Austin College 24, UT Tyler 22. A-621

Women

UT Tyler 80, Austin College 60

AUSTIN COLLEGE (14-7, 12-7)
Stephanie Knudson 5-15 0-0 12; Velencia Johnson 4-5 1-6 9; Brittany Smith 2-4 5-6 9; Ceren Unal 3-3 2-2 8; Kristen Davis 2-3 2-3 6; Libby Kellum 1-9 2-2 4; Andrea Bauer 2-6 0-0 4; Brittany Millar 0-0 3-3 3; Annie Laski 1-3 1-2 3; Raney Bauer 1-3 0-0 2; Lauren Whittle 0-1 0-0 0; Catherine Moran 0-0 0-0 0; Jess Tully-Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-52 16-24 60.

UT TYLER (13-8, 13-6)
Katelynn Denney 6-13 4-6 16; Kasey Buggs 4-10 5-6 13; RaTonya Hunter 4-8 4-7 12; Shamonica Shead 3-9 4-6 10; Sarah Stanley 2-8 5-6 10; Cerisse Tettey 2-3 2-2 6; Devon Sudderth 2-3 1-1 5; Cassie Stinson 1-2 1-2 3; Jerinda Watson 1-3 0-0 2; Kayla Hebert 0-0 2-2 2; Gina Baker 0-0 1-2 1; Victoria McKenzie 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 29-40 80.

Halftime-UT Tyler 45-28.

3-point goals-Austin College 2-20 (Stephanie Knudson 2-12; Libby Kellum 0-4; Andrea Bauer 0-1; Annie Laski 0-1; Raney Bauer 0-2), UT Tyler 1-5 (Sarah Stanley 1-3; Cerisse Tettey 0-1; Devon Sudderth 0-1). Fouled out-Austin College-Ceren Unal, UT Tyler-None. Rebounds-Austin College 31 (Velencia Johnson 6; Andrea Bauer 6), UT Tyler 39 (Kasey Buggs 12). Assists-Austin College 8 (Andrea Bauer 2; Raney Bauer 2; Stephanie Knudson 2), UT Tyler 14 (RaTonya Hunter 7). Total fouls-Austin College 26, UT Tyler 18. A-506