Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
26-10
UNC Wilmington
26-9
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Blue Raiders fall in double overtime in CBI title game
3/23/2022 8:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The team that was picked last in the Conference USA preseason poll turned out to be the last team standing in the 2021-22 season. Middle Tennessee's bid for a third trophy on the season came up short in a 96-90 loss to UNC Wilmington double overtime of the championship game of the 2022 Roman College Basketball Invitational on Wednesday.
"To win 26 games, you've got to do a lot of things right," head coach Nick McDevitt said. "Our experience here in Daytona was great. To get to the finals of any postseason tournament, you've got to play well for a long time… Our guys really enjoyed their time here. It was just a couple of plays and a trophy away from being perfect."
Donovan Sims in his final collegiate game came within one point of his career high, leading the Blue Raiders with 27 points on the strength of a 14-for-16 night at the free throw line. He earned All-Tournament Team honors for his efforts in Daytona Beach.
Middle Tennessee finishes the season with a record of 26-11, improving upon its 2020-21 win total by 21 games, tied with Towson for the largest increase both this season and in Division I history.
The Seahawks caught fire late in the game Wednesday, coming back from a 50-39 deficit with 12-and-a-half minutes left in regulation to force overtime. UNCW made seven of its eight free throw attempts down the stretch, but as MT made six of seven tries from the charity stripe in the final 30 seconds of regulation, UNCW made a 3-pointer with eight seconds left and hit two free throws of its own with one second left to tie the game at 70 apiece.
In the final 20 seconds of the first overtime period, the Seahawks made two free throws to extend their lead to 81-78. Sims was not ready to let his career end so quickly, as the Murfreesboro native nailed a 3-pointer with four seconds left to send the game to a second overtime.
UNCW took care of business down the stretch in the second extra period, making nine of 12 free throw attempts to put the game out of reach.
DeAndre Dishman fouled out in the first overtime period with 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the floor. Teafale Lenard, Jr., added 11 while tying his career high of four blocks for the second night in a row.
Sims and Eli Lawrence led the Blue Raiders with eight rebounds each. Sims' three assists were MT's most on the night.
Lenard pulled the momentum firmly in favor of Middle Tennessee just under the 15-minute mark of the second half, extending his team's lead to 10 points with his 50th slam dunk of the season, passing Reggie Scurry's previous team record of 49.
Dishman, Lawrence and Sims set program records of their own Wednesday, as each started his 37th game of the year, surpassing a mark previously held by Reggie Upshaw and JaCorey Williams.
Middle Tennessee ends the postseason having won its most games in a postseason tournament in program history and making its first appearance in the championship game of a postseason tournament.
"We've done a lot of good things this year, but our team has a lot of room to grow," McDevitt said. "And that's a good thing. To play the way we did all season, but we still haven't peaked. We haven't reached our ceiling."
