Men's Basketball earns 1st SCAC Win on Sunday
IRVING, Texas – It was the 13-point first half score differential that proved to be the deciding result margin on Sunday afternoon, as the University of Dallas men's basketball team topped Trinity University 83-70 at the Maher Center. Dallas (6-10, 1-6 SCAC) captured its first conference victory this season and ended a 12-game losing streak against such foes dating back to last year. That last Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) win was against these same Tigers (7-10, 2-4 SCAC) in San Antonio. The triumph also ended a five-game slide for the Crusaders on the campaign.
Three of UD's last four conference wins have come against Trinity, and Dallas has also won four-of-five head-to-head meetings. This includes three home games for the Crusaders over the past three years.
NOTABLE STATISTICS
(Individual Notes)
- Lorenzo Gonzalez (San Antonio, Texas) produced a career-high 21 points and was perfect from the free throw line with 10 successful makes. He also was perfect from long distance with a season-best three.
- Gonzalez eclipsed his previous high by marking the 2nd time the guard notched 20 points. That was last season against Luther College on December 29, 2015. A game later that season against Austin College (January 2), Gonzalez tallied a personal best 12-of-13 shooting at the charity stripe. Sunday's contest was the only other time the senior made or attempted double-digits at the line.
- Michael Sarrat (Colleyville, Texas) chipped in 17 points and a tied a season-high four assists for consecutive games. Prince Giadolor (Rockwall, Texas) rounded out the double-digit scoring trio with 15 points. The duo posted five made free throws apiece.
- Darrius Colvin (Waco, Texas) was a point shy of a double-double with nine and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. The nine points snapped a six-game streak of scoring double figures. Tom Kaiser (Nashville, Tenn.) added seven boards.
- Trinity was paced by Matt Jones who matched Gonzalez with a game-high 21 points. He was 7-for-11 from the field and dished four of TU's nine assists. Jayden Holden contributed 15 points and had three treys. Jones hit the team's other pair of three-pointers.
(Team Notes)
- Dallas outshot the guests 42.3 percent to 37.9 percent with each squad making 22 field goals. UD was 44.4 percent (8-18) from downtown.
- The Crusaders reached season-highs in made free throws (31) and free throw attempts (43).
- Trinity was whistled for 28 fouls and Dallas had 24 infractions.
- Dallas edged the Tigers on rebounds (37-35), assists (16-9), and forced turnovers (19-17).
- Points off turnovers were a big advantage for UD with 24-13 being the difference. 15 of those points for Dallas occurred in the first half.
- The Crusaders swiped 11 steals which is the 6th time this season to be double-digits in that column. It is a team-most in conference with the previous mark being 10 two weekends ago against Southwestern University.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Trinity held a brief lead, with Aaron Knopp sinking a jumper 12 seconds into the contest. However, Prince Giadolor (Rockwall, Texas) knotted things with two free throws just over two minutes into regulation, and then propelled Dallas in front on its next possession with a layup and 17:11 remaining in the frame. The home squad never relinquished the lead from there. Giadolor would connect on another jumper after Trinity's Matthew Colliflower split at the free throw line to make it 6-3. At 11:43, the sophomore etched another field goal for eight of the team's first 12 points and opened UD's largest lead at the time 12-3.
Emmanuel Calton (Keller, Texas) and Gonzalez had split the scoring streak up with a free throw and trifecta, respectively. Gonzalez sank his second of the afternoon a UD possession later to counter a trey by Jones. Dallas' Matt Richelsen (Medina, Minn.) put down his lone score of the game with a three-pointer that opened the first double-digit margin with 8:41. Trinity missed an answer from distance and Sarrat hit the first-of-two at the line to make it a 21-10 lead.
Five minutes later, Calton swiped a steal and fed Giadolor on a fastbreak to make it a 10-point lead again at 29-19. The Crusaders' momentum remained steady as an 11-0 run spanned two minutes and eight seconds in the stanza. This included a trio of free throws by Dallas thanks to a technical foul. Garate split on those and Gonzalez remained perfect on making the two he drew when fouled. Holden snapped the scoreless stretch with a three-pointer at the buzzer, cutting the Dallas advantage to 42-29.
The Crusaders enjoyed a 52 percent field goal result through the half.
Each side went scoreless the first minute in the next half. Knopp got the Tigers a point with a split at the line, and Gonzalez countered with his third made trey two and a half minutes in. The largest lead at the time was 17 (47-30) thanks to a Tom Kaiser (Nashville, Tenn.) layup a minute later. Holden knocked a three down for the first field goal for the Tigers in the frame nine seconds after.
Trinity took a surge with Knopp converting on an old fashioned three-point play and Jones breaking away on a layup to nip the deficit to single-digits (54-45) with 12:53 in the game. UD's Victor Garate (Austin, Texas) responded in a huge way with consecutive made three-pointers to extend the home lead out to 61-47. Garate and Calton each tallied seven points off the bench for the Crusaders.
Dallas made four straight field goals from downtown, as Sarrat torched two and made it 67-51. The makes then switched to the free throw line as Giadolor and Gonzalez, respectively, hit two attempts apiece and ballooned the widest lead of the game for the Navy and White at 18 (71-53). The Crusaders made 16-of-18 free throws in last six minutes of regulation, with all of those counting for the home team's points in that span.
The Tigers were chipping away and did get within eight twice on Jones' trifectas each time. The last one came with about a minute remaining and reflected a UD lead 76-68. Gonzalez remained perfect with two more free throws to give him eight. Calton made an instinctive play and launched a three from just past half court and drew contact. He hit all of his free throws within that trio to give him seven points in the game – all at the charity stripe. That essentially sealed the win with 30 seconds to go, but Gonzalez added another pair for his 10 free throws and new scoring career-high.
UP NEXT
Dallas gets another look at the most recent pair of opponents with trips on their courts next weekend. It starts at Schreiner University on Jan. 27th around 7:30 p.m.