Powerful second half Extends Men's Basketball streak

MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – The University of Dallas men's basketball team (5-0) defeated Linfield College (1-4) by a final of 61-51 on Friday evening. Dallas keeps its record unblemished and has won five-straight, which was last done in 2000-01 when that squad posted a 12-0 streak.

It was a rough first half shooting wise for both squads, as neither squad netted more than 25 points. Dallas posted a season-low 16 and was down eight at the break.

The navy and white were in front of the woeful scoring affair 11-9 with 7:46 minutes left in the frame, but allowed the Wildcats to push a 10-0 run and close the half on a 15-5 stretch.

However, the Crusaders pushed the necessary surge to erase the margin in the second stanza, outscoring Linfield 45-27.

After LC scored an early jumper to increase its largest lead of the night to 10, the navy and white nipped away eventually knotting things at 28 with exactly 14 minutes remaining in the contest. A three-pointer by senior Blaine Blackburn (Midlothian, Texas) would even things out, and was one of his two trifectas (two-of-three) in the triumph.

The home team wasn't rattled and countered with a 7-2 run around the midway portion of the second half.

Dallas came from behind again and the squads traded advantages a few more times before the road warriors clinched the edge for the remainder of the affair on a pair of free throws from sophomore Tom Kaiser (Nashville, Tenn.) that reflected a 44-43 tally.

The Crusaders rattled off a 19-8 stand in the last 4:24 minutes to secure its unbeaten start, all of which have come away from the home confines in Irving, Texas.

Senior Aaron Wyatt (Frisco, Texas) led Dallas with 12 points. It is the fifth contest in a row the SCAC Player-of-the-Week has eclipsed double-digits in scoring and is the forward's fourth contest to lead all scorers on UD.

Also tacking on a double figure performance in just as many games was sophomore Michael Sarrat (Colleyville, Texas) with 10. Kaiser and Blackburn added solid contributions with nine and eight points, respectively.

Dallas outshot LC 46 percent to 36 percent, and held a slight edge in rebounds 32-31. The Crusaders big outburst in the second half reflected with the squad's 61 percent (14-of-23) from the field.

The Wildcats had one player reach double figures, which was Ryan Potter who posted a game-high 15 points.

Next Opponent:

Dallas remains in Oregon on Saturday, and will face Portland Bible College at 9 p.m. central time. This contest will conclude the team's season-long, six-game road stretch.