Victory over Highlands

March 3, 2009—Peter Bailey knocked down one of the biggest shots of his career with eight seconds left, capping a late Cougar three point barrage, and propelling the men to the RMAC Final Four thanks to an incredible 86-83 (box score) victory over the #2 seeded New Mexico Highlands Cowboys Tuesday night in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
In a game that featured an electric atmosphere, a jam packed arena, a second half comeback and just about everything else you could ask for in playoff basketball, the Cougars flat-out willed themselves to a three point decision over a Highlands team that entered the contest with a 20-7 overall record.
Trailing 46-35 at the half, the Cougars slowly whittled the Cowboy advantage down to three points on two occasions, before eventually forging the first tie of the game when Bailey converted a three point play with 10 minutes remaining.
The hosts seemed to have an answer for every Cougar run however, and managed to pull back ahead by five thanks to a Chris Dunn dunk, and a Roman Andrade trey on consecutive possessions.
Just when the Cowboys looked to be back in control, Justin Neuhaus silenced the deafening home crowd when he converted a monster jam off of a Jordan Long lob pass while drawing the foul.
CCU was eventually able to pull ahead by three points when Long got his defender in the air, and downed a leaning bank shot at the 3:18 mark.
Less than 20 seconds later, Highlands was back in business thanks to a series of three free throws that knotted the contest up for the fourth time in seven minutes.
The final minute and a half was a see-saw battle, as a Neuhaus layup on one end was answered with a Highlands three point connection on the other end. Trailing by one, Long answered right back with a clutch three that put CCU back in the lead.
Highlands tied it up again on some freebies, before Tyler House drained a second-straight Cougar three with 36 ticks showing.
Not to be outdone, Roman Andrade then sliced to the rim for Highlands, converting the layup and completing a three point play for the games sixth tie with the clock down to 24 seconds.
24 seconds was more than enough time to be a hero however, as CCU’s all-time leading three-point shooter found an open look with time winding down and calmly drained the shot that would send the Cougars to their second straight RMAC semi-final appearance.
Neuhaus led the way for CCU with 23 points on 6-8 shooting to go with four blocked shots.
Five other Cougars reached double-digits, as Brendan Puckett notched 16 points on 5-8 shooting, Long finished with 13, Jobi Wall tacked on 11, while House and Bailey each chipped in 10.
NMHU’s Andrade led all scorers with 28 points while shooting 9-25 from floor, inhaling six rebounds and doling out four assists.
The Cougars are now winners of four straight and look to keep the streak alive as they square off against Fort Lewis this Friday at 8:00 p.m. at the State Fairgrounds Event Center in Pueblo, Colorado.