Houston coach Brent Hall waved his arms to encourage the crowed as Mansfield’s Kyle Rummens stepped to the free-throw line with the chance to tie the game.
Rummens made the first. 69-67.
He made the second. 69-68.
The third one missed.
The Tigers grabbed the rebound, and the final second ticked off the clock. Victory at last. Houston 69, Mansfield 68.
The Tigers rallied from an early deficit and led as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter, then held on down the stretch – including an unnecessary foul of Rummens as he hoisted a 3-pointer with one second remaining – for their first victory of the season.
Kyle Poynter led four players in double figures with 20 points. Jesse Setters scored 19, Cory Scheets added 12 and Curry Van Horn had 10.
Each team hit eight 3-pointers. Van Horn and Setters hit three apiece, and freshman Weston Walker connected twice from downtown during an 18-3 third-quarter run.
Mansfield, which led 19-8 early before falling behind double digits in the fourth quarter, made it 67-66 with a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left to set up a wild finish.
After Houston turned it over, Nathan Jones missed a foul shot with 9.4 seconds left. Houston’s Kaleb Poynter and Mansfield’s Sheirif Williams missed two free throws apiece as less than one second went off the clock.
Setters rebounded Williams’ second miss and knocked down two free throws with 5.2 seconds to go. After a timeout, Rummens got loose in the right corner and was fouled as he missed a triple attempt.
With Houston’s student section heckling him, Rummens made the first two free throws before missing the final one.
JUNIOR VARSITY: Jacob Kelly scored a team-high six points in the JV Tigers’ 60-27 loss Tuesday to Mansfield.
Box score
VARSITY
Mansfield 19 10 12 27 – 68
Houston 10 15 26 18 – 69
MANSFIELD – Rummens 0 2-3 2. Jones 5 0-1 14. Henry 2 0-0 4. Clayton 4 1-1 10. Dugger 4 0-0 8. Gray 9 1-2 20. Williams 4 0-2 8. Totals 28 4-9 68.
HOUSTON (1-2) – Van Horn 3 1-2 10. KyPoynter 9 2-3 20. Setters 6 2-6 19. Walker 3 0-0 8. KaPoynter 0 0-2 0. CScheets 4 4-5 12. Totals 19 9-16 69.
3-pointers: Mansfield 8 (Jones 4, Dugger 2, Clayton, Gray); Houston 8 (Van Horn 3, Setters 3, Walker 2).
JUNIOR VARSITY
Mansfield 17 17 20 12 – 60
Houston 6 10 6 5 – 27
HOUSTON – Preheim 2. Jones 3. Buchholz 4. Dunn 2. Transmeyer 2. Kelly 6. Cooperman 2. Walker 5. Case 1.