LAWTON, Okla. -- Da'Zhon Wyche exploded for a season-high 26 points to lead UT Tyler to an 85-75 road win at Cameron Monday night, completing a two-game series sweep.
Cameron tied the game in the closing seconds of regulation when Marques Warrior dialed up his own number for a tough pull-up three-pointer at the top of the key to tie the game at 68-68. When Wyche's desperation three at the buzzer bounced off the rim to send the game to overtime, the Patriots finished off the Aggies with a 17-7 margin in overtime to pull away for the win.
Wyche led all scorers with 26 points in 33 minutes of action off the bench, while Cameron was led by Warrior's 23-point effort.
With the win, UT Tyler improves to 4-9 overall and 3-9 in Lone Star Conference play, while Cameron has lost six straight and falls to 1-12 overall (1-12 LSC).
Turning Point: Da'Zhon Wyche led UT Tyler in overtime, answering an early Cameron free throw with a three-pointer which sparked a 15-2 run. That gave the Patriots a commanding 83-71 lead with less than a minute left in overtime. Wyche hit a three-pointer to answer a Dalton Vinson free throw, and Wyche scored 8 points in the run to help the Patriots put the game away.
Quotable (head coach Louis Wilson): "Winning on the road is good; winning twice is great. It's hard to get road sweeps in this league, and we are not in game shape as we're coming off a 14 day quarantine. Playing back-to-back was challenging for us. We certainly made our share of mistakes, but in the end, 'survive and advance' was the mentality we had as we approached these games."
How It Happened: Cameron held the lead for less than a minute of the 45-minute contest, and UT Tyler's largest lead of the contest was 12 points. Up until the final two minutes of the opening half, the Patriots' largest lead was 4, but Micah Fuller made a pair of free throws with 1:50 left, and Da'Zhon Wyche added a floating jumper in the lane followed by a stepback three-pointer to cap a 7-0 run just before the half. Brock Schreiner answered with a three-pointer in the closing seconds to cut UT Tyler's halftime lead to 34-30.
Cameron battled back early in the second half to tie the game at 41-41, but Fuller and Wyche scored 5 points each within the next four minutes to spark a 12-0 run that left the Patriots with a 53-41 advantage with 12:35 remaining. UT Tyler maintained a lead of at least five points until the final minute of regulation, when Marques Warrior took over the Aggies' offense. Warrior converted a three-point play with 23 seconds left, trimming the margin to 67-65, and after Emanuel Gant made 1-of-2 free throws, Warrior pulled up for a contested three-pointer at the top of the key and knocked it down to tie the game at 68-68 with 4 seconds left. The Patriots inbounded and got the ball to Wyche, who got the ball into the frontcourt for a running three-point attempt at the buzzer, but it bounced off the rim and sent the game to overtime.
In the extra period, Dalton Vinson opened the scoring by making 1-of-2 free throws, giving Cameron a 69-68 lead, but Wyche and Soloman Thomas quickly responded with consecutive three-pointers that started a run of 10 consecutive points and a 15-2 run overall. The run gave the Patriots a 12-point lead, 83-71, matching its largest of the game with just 53 seconds left in the five-minute overtime period. Wyche scored 8 of his 26 points in overtime.
UT Tyler Standouts: Da'Zhon Wyche surpassed his previous season-high during overtime, finishing with a season-high 26 points with 5 three-point makes and a 10-of-17 overall shooting performance. Emanuel Gant and Micah Fuller added 15 points each, and Gant added a game-high 10 rebounds to finish with his fourth double-double of the season.
Cameron Standouts: Marques Warrior scored a team-high 23 points and knocked down 4-of-5 three-pointers, including the critical game-tying trey to force overtime. Brock Schreiner and Connor Slater added 15 points each, and Slater led the Aggies on the boards with 7 rebounds.
By The Numbers: UT Tyler forced Cameron into 25 turnovers, leading to a 28-21 advantage in points off turnovers… The Patriots won the battle of the boards with a 39-32 rebounding margin, which led to a 17-8 margin in second chance points… The UT Tyler bench posted a 34-16 edge in bench scoring with Wyche producing 26 points in 33 minutes of action off the bench… The Patriots shot 42 percent (26-for-62) overall and 32 percent (7-for-22) from three-point range while converting free throws at an 81 percent (26-for-32) rate… Cameron shot 47 percent (24-for-51) overall, 48 percent (10-for-21) from three-point range, and 65 percent (17-for-26) from the free throw line.
What's Next: UT Tyler is back home for a two-game home series Friday and Saturday (Feb. 12-13) against the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith (UAFS).
