Giadolor Leads Charge with Career Night; Crusaders breeze to Home-Opening Win
IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas men's basketball team (2-4) broke 50 points in both halves to control a 103-60 victory on Thursday night over Southwestern Adventist University. The Crusaders eclipsed triple-digits for a season-high. It is the first time since etching 106 in a win last season over Austin College (January 2) at the Maher Center.
Dallas picked up its 32nd win out of the last 45 contests in the home confines to start the 2016-17 in that building. It is also the 7th straight win in a home opener for the Crusaders dating to 2010-11. The triumph snapped a four-game slide.
NOTABLES
- Prince Giadolor (Rockwall, Texas) captured a career-high 24 points and shot 90 percent (9-10) from the floor. This included his first nine shot attempts with two from downtown and a 4-for-5 shooting mark at the free throw line.
- Giadolor added team-highs in rebounds (8), assists (6), and steals (4).
- Three other players broke double figures. This included Victor Garate (Austin, Texas) with 12, Logan Fruhwirth (Waynesville, Ohio) with 11, and Darrius Colvin (Waco, Texas) with 10. Garate was 4-for-6 shooting from three.
- Fruhwirth and Jacob DelAngel (Bridgeport, Texas) each logged season-highs in minutes and both chipped in seven points off the bench in the second half.
- DelAngel tied Lorenzo Gonzalez (San Antonio, Texas) with four assists apiece. Giadolor and the duo guards combined for 14-of-23 (season-high) team dimes.
- Dallas nearly split even in team rebounds with 24 defensive and 23 offensive. UD bested the Knights by 22 on the boards.
- The bench earned a 52-22 edge in favor of the home team.
- Dallas took advantage of forcing a season-high 28 turnovers. This led to a 37-17 advantage in points off miscues. UD also held a 28-6 edge in second chance points and 44-22 edge in points in the paint.
- Both teams scored double-digits in fastbreak points with the Crusaders scoring a season-high 19 compared to 11 for SW' Adventist.
- The Knights were led individually by Travis Gagau with 12 points. JaColby Hardin-Crawford added nine. Fatai Eke contributed seven points and half of the team's six blocks.The Knights shot 38.5 percent from the field and 18.8 percent (3-16) from the three-point arc.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams traded points and leads throughout the first three minutes. After SW' Adventist's Kevin Squarzon sank a jumper, the Crusaders regained the lead and never trailed in their home opener. Colvin sparked 12 unanswered points for UD with a trey and Giadolor started his torrid shooting on the next four made four made field goals, including the first of two trifectas. After the guard's third field goal increased the edge to 16-8, he swiped a steal and raced to a fast break jump shot that opened the first double-digit lead of the game.
Out of a timeout for the guests, Hardin-Crawford chimed in with a jumper that moved the margin in single-digits a final time with 13:55 left. Garate had just checked in a few seconds earlier and sent the Crusaders on another run his first triple of the night. Giadolor came up after the Knights lost the ball on an offensive foul to give him 13 points at that juncture. DelAngel followed on a layup and Garate capped a 10-0 run with another trey. He had nine points from all three-pointers in the first. However, the half was about Giadolor, as the sophomore dialed a three with 22 seconds left to lift the Crusaders on what would be a 51-22 halftime advantage. Colvin also had seven during the first 20 minutes.
The surge never lost its power with Dallas topping its second half point total with 52. UD forced 17 turnovers during this stanza and also shot 19 of its game-made 22 free throws during that span. Dallas led by as many as 48 with 2:50 from the final buzzer.
Several players made their Crusader debuts which included: Jason Morales (Weslaco, Texas), Tristan Hixon (San Marcos, Calif.), Johnathan Page (DeSoto, Texas), and Jarred Osnes (Fayetteville, Ark.).
UP NEXT
Dallas will take nearly a week break before heading up the road for another non-NCAA opponent in Dallas Christian College. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. after the women's tilt.