Men's Basketball ends Season in SCAC Semifinals versus Top-Seeded Texas Lutheran

IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas men's basketball team (18-8) ended one of its most memorable campaigns in program history to No.1-Seeded Texas Lutheran University (17-9) on Saturday night in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Semifinals.  

TLU will advance to the Championship Game on Sunday, March 1 and face fellow co-champion title winner, Centenary College of Louisiana, at 2:30 p.m.

Dallas was unable to keep up with the top-seeded Bulldogs and would be topped 82-65 in front of an enormous, rowdy crowd at the Maher Athletics Center. Texas Lutheran connected on 54.3-percent from the field and 55.6-percent from behind the three-point line.

The Crusaders posted a 34.9-percent effort and shot 21.4-percent (6-of-28) from downtown.

After Dallas jumped out to a 7-2 edge in the first three minutes, the Bulldogs nipped things to one on a few occasions before taking their final advantage of the evening with a trifecta from Donte McGee to make it 13-11.

TLU pushed the edge to double-digits eventually with 5:51 until the break at 27-17. The Navy and White remained in the contest by narrowing the margin to as many as five, 33-28, with 1:49. Dallas trailed at halftime 37-29.

In the second stanza, UD couldn't contain the Black and Gold, as it shot 61.9-percent (13-of-21) from the floor and were five-of-nine in both frames beyond the arc.

Still down eight at 41-33, Texas Lutheran extended the momentum with a 19-4 run.

Dallas was led by seniors Aaron Wyatt (Frisco, Texas) and Kym Malone (Richardson, Texas). The tandem combined for 34 points, with Malone notching a team-high 18. Rounding out a trio of double figure scorers was sophomore Lorenzo Gonzalez (San Antonio, Texas) with 11 – which all occurred in the final half.

Senior Mark Promberger (Phoenix, Ariz.) led the rebounding on the squad with eight to match his eight points. Dallas was outrebounded 41-30 on the glass. UD did force 15 turnovers while committing only seven of its own. 23 of the Crusaders' points came from those.

The Bulldogs were led by Sterling Holmes with a game-high 21, and collected nine rebounds to go along with seven assists. Also nearly missing a double-double was McGee with 10 points and nine boards. Jordan Kouremetis sandwiched into the trio of double-digit performers with 14 in the victory.

It was quite a run for the University of Dallas, as the program matched 18 wins for the most in school history since the 2002-03 campaign. It is the third time for the men's basketball team to hit the mark with the achievement claimed in 2000-01. 

To begin the season, UD broke into the records with its second best start, seven triumphs in a row. This was short five of that big 2000-01 year, which ranks at the top after a 12-0 unblemished streak.

Friday's three-point win (50-47) versus Colorado College lifted Dallas to its first conference tournament victory since joining the SCAC four years ago.

The semifinal setback concludes the 2014-15 season for Dallas.