TYLER, TEXAS – Senior Terrell Wilson played the hero role on Saturday afternoon for UT Tyler and converted a shot at the buzzer to score a 52-50 win for the Patriots over St. Mary's.
 
Wilson's contested floater from just beyond the free-throw lane banked off the glass and found the bottom of the net on a night in which baskets were hard to come by in the low-scoring affair. UT Tyler outscored the Rattlers 34-to-28 in the second half to remain unbeaten on their home floor in 2022-23 with the win.
 
Neither team shot the ball well as UT Tyler made just 19-of-48 (39.6 percent) from the field and St. Mary's just 21-of-61 (34.4 percent) of their attempts. The Patriots did play a much better offensive second half of basketball, converting better than 50 percent of their shots (13-of-25) after going just 6-for-23 (26.9 percent) in the first half.
 
Redshirt junior Jordan Hairston led the Patriot offense as the lone scorer in double-digits, totaling 13 points and six rebounds on the afternoon.
 
UT Tyler trailed for the majority of the second half until a 7-0 run consisting of back-to-back baskets from junior Jordan Love and a made three-pointer from Hairston quickly stole the momentum and made it 48-46 with 3:06 remaining. That lead was the first advantage for the Patriots since the 18:14 mark of the half.
 
Senior Rashun Williams added two more points on a pair of made free throws to make it 50-46 with 1:53 remaining following the 9-0 run for the Patriots. The UT Tyler defense stood strong all night in the physical effort for both squads, especially over the course of that game-changing run for the Patriots in which they forced the Rattlers into a pair of turnovers and two missed shots over the 2:53 of game time.
 
The Patriots forced another missed shot on the ensuing possession coming out of the Williams' pair of free throw makes to run the lead to four, but a costly turnover gave the ball back to St. Mary's with 1:18 left on the clock. The Rattlers took advantage and cut the deficit in half with a made basket with 1:04 remaining, and then forced a shot clock violation on UT Tyler to get the ball back with 30 seconds left, down two points.
 
A foul with 11 seconds left on the Patriot defense set Emmanuel Ewuzie of St. Mary's up to tie the game with a pair of free throw makes. Ewuzie did just that, setting the stage for the tie game at 50-50 with 11 seconds left.
 
UT Tyler advanced the ball, called timeout, and then watched as Wilson set up his own shot that found the bottom of the net as time expired and gave the Patriots a second straight victory.
 
Wilson finished the night with eight points on a 3-for-6 effort from the field. Sophomore D.J. Jones chipped in nine points on a trio of three-point makes.
 
The two key wins over St. Edward's and St. Mary's moved UT Tyler to 8-4 on the year and back to .500 in Lone Star Conference play at 4-4. The Patriots are 6-0 on their home floor in 2022-23, and have positioned themselves right back into the thick of the race in the conference standings.
 
UT Tyler will be on the road next weekend for Thursday and Saturday games at Texas A&M International and Texas A&M-Kingsville.