Utah Valley’s journey toward its first NCAA Tournament appearance in men’s basketball is going to have to wait another year.
The Wolverines came agonizingly close late Saturday night before falling 63-61 to Cal Baptist in the WAC tournament championship game at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
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UVU, the WAC regular-season champions, held a six-point lead with 2:22 to play, but league player of the year Dominique Daniels Jr. overcame a poor shooting night and hit three 3-pointers in the final 1:52, including the go-ahead score with 17 seconds to play.
The Wolverines took a timeout after Daniels’ final 3 of the night gave Cal Baptist (25-8) the 63-61 lead and drew up a play that looked like it would succeed and force overtime.
Trevan Leonhardt drove to the hoop and drew in a pair of defenders, then threw a backside lob to a cutting Isaac Davis.
Davis, though, slipped as he was preparing to jump and he missed the dunk attempt with two seconds on the clock.
UVU didn’t have a player in the area where the ball bounced off the miss, and the Lancers grabbed the rebound.
“It hurts. It hurts,” UVU coach Todd Phillips said to open his postgame press conference.
It was the second straight season that UVU lost in the WAC tournament championship, with an automatic bid to the NCAAs there for the taking.
Saturday’s loss also ensured that UVU’s search for its first NCAA Tournament appearance in the sport will be at 22 years and counting, since the Wolverines jumped to the Division I level in the 2004-05 season.
Daniels, despite shooting 7 of 25, scored a game-high 23 points to lead three Cal Baptist scorers in double-figures.
Jackson Holcombe paced UVU (25-8) with 18 points, while Davis added 12.
Cal Baptist will find out Sunday who it will play in its first NCAA Tournament appearance, while UVU is likely headed back to the NIT for the fourth time overall and third in the past four seasons.
This story will be updated.