TEXARKANA, Ark. -- Minutes before heavy rainfall touched down at Texarkana Country Club, Cooper Sears sunk a final putt on a sixth playoff hole to hand Middle Tennessee the 2019 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Men's Golf Championship. The Blue Raiders, a second seed in the tournament's match play slate, upended top-seeded UTSA 3-2 to claim back-to-back league titles Wednesday evening. 

Middle Tennessee will once again await its postseason fate when the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Selection Show airs 8 p.m. CT Wednesday, May 1 on the Golf Channel. 

With James Beckner and Tanner Owens putting away their matches 3&1 and 2&1, respectively earlier in the day, all eyes were on the first and last pairings. Sean Meehan and Marcus Byrd halved holes No. 12 through 16 before the Roadrunner birdied the final two holes to end the match 1UP. By then, Sears and Michael Rome had begun playoff action after squaring their 18 holes. 

The players halved hole after hole and running on adrenaline, Rome fired an incredible 40-foot putt to stay alive. Sears responded with a 10-footer to send the crowd to No. 6, where he would close the books with a quick birdie. 

UTSA advanced to C-USA match play action for the second-consecutive year and made its first finals appearance in program history. ?

No. 2 Middle Tennessee def. No. 1 UTSA, 3-2
Cooper Sears (MT) def. Michael Rome (UTSA), 1UP (24) 
James Becker (MT) def. Collin Clark (UTSA), 3&1 
Tanner Owens (MT) def. Chad Sewell (UTSA), 2&1 
Christian Fanfelle (UTSA) def. Palmer Sadlowski (MT), 4&3
Sean Meehan (UTSA) def. Marcus Byrd (MT), 1UP