AUSTIN, Texas – Shimeek Johnson’s three-point play with 0.7 second left in overtime gave St. Edward’s a thrilling 91-90 victory over Dallas Baptist Monday evening at the Recreation and Convocation Center.

Matt Miner (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenandoah HS) got St. Edward’s (10-12, 2-8 HC) on the board first with a layup but Dallas Baptist (14-9, 5-4 HC) scored the next seven points to take a five-point lead. Nick Fox had four points and Wesley Gipson added a three pointer.

The Hilltoppers would respond by scoring the next eight points, led by four points by Zilijan Jones (Chicago, Ill./North Lawndale HS). That gave St. Edward’s a 10-7 lead with 13:32 remaining.

The Patriots would cut the lead to one point on three different occasions but St. Edward’s got some instant offense off of the bench from Curtis Jackson (Philadelphia, Penn./Midland JC) and Joseph Saldana (San Marcos, Texas/San Marcos HS). From the 11:49 mark, Jackson scored 11-straight points for the Hilltoppers to keep them in front. A jumper by Demitrius Thornton (Denver, Colo./Cochise JC) pushed the lead to six points. That is where Saldana came in and hit a three to push the lead to nine points, 32-23, with 5:30 left in the first half.

A three pointer by Fox with 1:33 left reduced the Hilltopper lead to three points, but two free throws by Jones with 53 seconds left gave St. Edward’s a 41-36 advantage at the break.

In the second half, St. Edward’s increased its lead to double digits in the first two minutes, but Dallas Baptist outscored them 8-4 over the next two minutes to cut the lead to six with 15:03 remaining.

St. Edward’s fought back by scoring the next seven points capped off by a thunderous dunk from Thornton that made it 59-46, with 12:54 remaining. The lead was the biggest for the Hilltoppers the entire game.

Dallas Baptist then started to chip away. A three-pointer by Armie Lewis with 4:49 left gave Dallas Baptist its first lead since early in the first half.

From there, the lead would change hands once and be tied twice. Jones knotted the score, 73-73, with a layup with 2:42 remaining, and the fun was just starting. Lewis hit one-of-two free throws to put the Patriots ahead by one with 2:29 left. After St. Edward’s turned the ball over twice and missed two shots, Lewis was at the line again with 29 seconds left. He would hit both for a three-point Patriot lead. After a Hilltopper timeout, Jones would drive the lane and get the bucket plus a foul with 11 seconds remaining. He would make the free throw to tie the game. With the Patriots scrambling for a shot at the other end, Chris Wacker (Universal City, Texas/Converse Judson HS) stole the ball. Khaliq Gross (Albany, N.Y./South Plains JC) drove the lane and hit a running jumper with three seconds left and St. Edward’s thought they had won the game. However, a desperation jumper by Fox bounced off of the backboard and in to send the game to overtime.

In the extra period, Dallas Baptist opened on a 6-0 run with Jordan McGowen scoring the final four points of the run. Both teams would trade a pair of free throws before Johnson (Albany, N.Y./Fairfield) scored four-straight points. The Patriots would split a pair of free throws and then Gross would split a double team for a dunk with 26 seconds left.

Coming into the contest with an 89 percent free-throw shooting percentage, TJ Clark was only able to hit one of two free throws. Gross then drove the length of the floor again and hit another bucket to tie the game with 17 seconds left. After a Hilltopper foul, McGowen hit two free throws with nine seconds left. That set the stage for Johnson’s heroics. After Gross’ jumper was off the mark, Johnson picked up the rebound and hit the putback jumper while he was fouled with 0.6 seconds left. He hit the free throw, and then blocked the Patriot three-point attempt from midcourt.

Johnson finished with 25 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, while Jones added 18 points and four assists. Gross tallied 16 points and five assists. Jackson scored 14 points off of the bench, which included four treys. The Hilltoppers were able to overcome 31 made free throws by the Patriots by outrebounding the visitors, 38-32, and registering 17 second-chance points.

McGowen led five Patriots in double figure scoring with 18 points. Gipson added 17, while Fox chipped in with 16 and Lewis scored 15. Clark scored 11 points.

St. Edward’s will be back in action Saturday when they host Arkansas-Fort Smith. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at the Recreation and Convocation Center. The game will be Homecoming on the Hilltop. Live coverage will be available on the Hilltopper Athletic Website.

As a member of NCAA Division II and the Heartland Conference, St. Edward’s, has captured 47 conference titles, advanced to the NCAA tournament 50 times and has produced 31 All-Americans and 32 Academic All-Americans since 1999.

Founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross, St. Edward's University is named among the top five "Up-and-Coming Universities" in the Western Region by its academic peers in a 2011 U.S. News & World Report survey. For eight consecutive years St. Edward's has been recognized as one of "America's Best Colleges" by U.S. News & World Report. St. Edward’s has also been named one of “America’s Best Colleges” by Forbes and the Center for College Affordability.

St. Edward's is a private, Catholic, liberal arts university of more than 5,400 students located in Austin, Texas. For more information on St. Edward’s University, visit http://www.stedwards.edu/athletics.