Dallas Men’s Basketball Struggles Against Austin College

Being a team that is a good deal smaller than its opponents, UD is for the most part forced to live and die with their jump shots. When the Crusaders shooters are hot they can be almost unstoppable on offense; the obvious downside to this being that when the jumpers stop falling the team can struggle mightily offensively. Unfortunately it was the latter of these factors that came into play tonight when they traveled to Sherman, TX to play Austin College.

In their 52-79 loss to the Roos, the Crusaders shot only 28% from the field, including a 3-18 performance from three point range. To be fair, much of their sub-par performance can be attributed to the extremely stingy Austin defense, which did not allow the Crusaders to get off any easy or uncontested shots.

Seniors Travis Ekmark (Yokosuka, Japan/Nile C. Kinnick H.S.) and Jim Norton (Louisville, KY/Holy Angels Academy) were the only Crusaders who were able to really get anything going offensively tonight. Due to foul trouble, Norton saw only 18 minutes on the court, but he still managed to score 11 points, going 5-8 from the field. Ekmark was 5-10, ending the game with a total of 18 points and 11 rebounds. This was his fourth double double of the year. Senior center Peter Popovich (St. Louis, MO/Gateway Academy) scored 12 points and grabbed 5 boards.

UD looks to get their offense back on track Sunday night when the play Colorado College here at the Maher Center. Tip off is at 1:00pm.