UNO never trails in Southland semifinal upset of top-seeded Sam Houston State

KATY, Texas – Jorge Rosa matched his career high with 18 points, including 7-of-7 from the field and 4-of-4 from three-point range, to pace three double digit scorers in the University of New Orleans’ (19-12) 79-76 victory over Sam Houston State University (21-11) Friday evening at the Merrell Center.

The fourth-seeded Privateers knocked off the regular-season champion Bearkats with clutch free throws and a well-balanced attack that featured just eight turnovers to offset Sam Houston’s 22-of-22 performance at the charity stripe.

Troy Green was 8-of-10 from the line for 14 points, five assists and three steals and Gerrale Gates added 11 points and four assists.

The Bearkats never led in the game.

THOUGHTS FROM COACH
Head coach Mark Slessinger immediately asked the team who their MVP was tonight. The team emphatically yelled “THE TEAM” as the championship culture continues to be evident on the Lakefront.

JORGE ROSA
“I have to give credit to my teammates,” said Rosa about his career night. “They found me at the right spot and all the credit goes to them.”

DAMION ROSSER
“We had to go get this one,” said Rosser. As Damion continued his postgame interviews, Rosa joined in as the duo stated the Privateers came to win. “That’s the mentality. We’re here to win.”

“I want to know what March Madness feels like,” said Rosser. He can count on the veterans as Bryson Robinson, Rosa and Scott Plaisance Jr. were members of the 2017 championship team.

FIRST HALF
Rosa caught fire early and carried the Privateers to a 7-2 lead with the team’s seven points. The senior drained a triple and followed with an and-one. Moments later, Gates muscled his way to an and-one to extend the UNO lead to seven.

The hot start offensive continued as Larry Robinson III drained a contested three and Rosa was the first to double figures with 10 on his second three with 11:19 remaining, giving UNO a 19-11 lead. Rosa went 4-for-4 to begin the game.

The Bearkats knotted the game at 26-all with 5:03 left in the first, but Rosa’s floater regained the lead for the Privateers.

The back and forth continued to end the half, with UNO taking a 35-34 lead into the locker room. Rosa posted a game-high 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting, Green came off the bench with six and Tyren Harrison added four and an offensive rebound that led to a putback.

Kai Mitchell and RJ Smith led SHSU with eight points and six rebounds apiece, but the Bearkats shot just 31.3 percent from the field in the opening stanza. Despite its struggles shooting, Sam Houston State was perfect at the line, draining all 12 from the charity stripe to remain within one possession of UNO.

Both teams took care of the ball, with UNO committing just five turnovers and SHSU four.

SECOND HALF
Rosa began the second half in identical fashion with a triple in the opening seconds. Damion Rosser showed off his inside game with a fadeaway jumper in the paint and Plaisance Jr. soared for a dunk prior to the under-16 media with New Orleans ahead 44-41.

With the shot clock winding down, Green found Rosa on the corner for his fourth trey of the game to give New Orleans a 52-47 lead with 11:08 remaining. The seventh field goal in as many tries tied Rosa’s career-high of 18 points.

Amari Haynes’ layup gave the Privateers their largest lead of the half – 56-49 – with 8:05 remaining.

The Privateers went until the 7:29 mark of the second half without committing a turnover in the second half.

Plaisance Jr. ended the mini-Bearkat run with his second dunk of the game off the Gates dish and Rosser followed with a basket to extend the Privateer lead to six with 4:29 left in regulation.

A technical foul on the Blue and Silver and an inside bucket by SHSU cut the Bearkat deficit to two.

Moments later, Josh Delaney answered Gates’ layup with his third three-pointer of the game and head coach Jason Hooten called a timeout with UNO in front 64-63.

Sam tied the game at 66 with 3:02 to go on Albert Almanza’s triple, but Plaisance Jr. responded with one of his own at the 2:38 marker to regain the lead for the Privateers.

Josh Delaney connected on a trey to knot it at 69-all, but again, the veteran leadership came up big as Plaisance Jr. drove to the hoop for two to put UNO back in front 71-69 (2:00).

The lead became four following a pair at the line by Green. Free throws were big late as Green hit two more with 48 ticks remaining to extend the lead to four.

Cameron Delaney made the sixth three of the half for the Bearkats to cut the UNO lead to one with 36 seconds left to play.

For the Privateers to win, UNO had to hit free throws and with 19.2 ticks, Gates drained two more to add to the Privateer cushion – 77-74.

New Orleans held on to defeat top seeded Sam Houston State 79-76 and advance to the championship game against No. 2 seed Abilene Christian, which defeated third-seeded Southeastern Louisiana 69-66 in the second semifinal.

NEXT UP
No. 4 UNO will play in the championship for the second time in three seasons. The game will tip off at 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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