Knights finish big

It was a night of heroes as the Knights won their final regular season home game in spectacular fashion Wednesday, holding off SMU for a 51-48 victory. And they did it despite being down as much as 10 points in the second half.

That massive deficit had persisted for much of the game as the Knights (19-9, 6-9) watched their shots miss again and again, while their defense did all it could to hamper the Mustangs.

With only 16 points on the scoreboard at halftime, the Knights had just had their worst half-game all season, entering the second down 23-16.

Then suddenly the Knights caught fire, sparked by perennial hero A.J. Rompza who started a scoring run with a series of drives into the paint plus a three pointer to help pull them from a 10-point deficit to an 11-point lead in less than 5 minutes.

From there, more than a half dozen Knights had their moments of heroics, with senior Tom Herzog stealing passes right under the Mustangs' net to cause breakaways down the court. Early in the game sophomore Marcus Jordan exploded in the paint, driving for shot after shot to keep the Mustangs guessing. Senior A.J. Tyler buried two long distance shots during that massive run to give the Knights more breathing room.

Speaking of long distance, Isaac Sosa would bury 4 of 7 three-pointers to keep the team going in the second half.

But that level of excitement and pressure could only last so long for the Knights, who seemed to tire late in the game, with only Rompza continuing to keep the momentum going.

They would hold on with a three point gap that lasted more than 30 seconds, as a wild series of shots by the Mustangs in the closing moments all bounced out, and P.J. Gaynor grabbed the ball to run out the clock.

"We've shown a lot of character and heart," Rompza said after the game.

Rompza would score 10 points, with Sosa leading with 17. In a bizarre twist, the Knights shot only 38.1 percent overall, but 44.4 percent from three-point land. The Knights hit all 11 of their free throws on the night.

They travel to Marshall to close out the regular season at 7 p.m. Saturday.

On March 9, the C-USA Championship begins in El Paso.