Sarrat becomes 15th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points for program.
Sarrat becomes 15th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points for program.

Sarrat breaks 1,000 career points; Centenary Pushes Away Late over Crusaders

IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas men's basketball team dropped an 82-68 decision at home versus Centenary College on Sunday afternoon. Michael Sarrat (Colleyville, Texas) knocked down a huge milestone about midway through the first half, eclipsing 1,000 career points with a three-pointer for his first field goal of the game.

Dallas (7-13, 2-9 SCAC) improved from the earlier outing in Shreveport, where it allowed 33 fastbreak points and reduced that amount to four. However, a 19-4 run in favor of the Gents (10-12, 4-7 SCAC) the last five minutes was too difficult to overcome. The setback leaves UD in a tie with Austin College for 7th place in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) standings. Centenary improves to four in the win column and solidified its place for final seeding with three league games remaining.

1,000 CAREER POINTS CLUB

Nine minutes into the opening stanza. Sarrat drilled a three-pointer from the left corner as time expired on the shot clock. It was a fitting way for the team's leading three-point shooter to achieve 1,000 career points, as he entered with 998 at the start of the tip. Sarrat finished with nine points to increase his four-year total to 1,007. That lifts him 14th in the all-time point's record books for Dallas. He is the 15th Crusader to accomplish the milestone. The most recent player in the program was Ross Davidson ('14) at Colorado College on February 22, 2014.

NOTABLE STATISTICS

(Individual Notes)

- Prince Giadolor (Rockwall, Texas) scored a team-high 15 points. He added four assists and three rebounds.

- Tom Kaiser notched all 13 of his points in the second half. He grabbed four rebounds.

- Lorenzo Gonzalez (San Antonio, Texas) rounded out the double-digit scoring trio with 10. He dished four assists and matched that total with as many steals.

- Darrius Colvin (Waco, Texas) followed Sarrat's nine points with eight. He garnered a game-high eight boards.

- The Gents were led by Cedric Harris with 17 points. Travion Kirkendoll was right behind with 16. All five Centenary starters reached double figures with Treylan Matthews (11), Trey Barstow (10), and James Sapp (10).

- Three Centenary players tied game-highs on the glass with eight. Harris, Kirkendoll, and Sapp formed the unit.

(Team Notes)

- Centenary outshot UD 45.8 percent to 38.7 percent from the field. Both teams displayed nearly identical attempts at the free throw line with the Maroon and White having an extra (19-28) to Dallas' (15-27).

- There were 14 lead changes and 10 ties in this contest.

- The 11 steals for UD were the 3rd time in conference to break double-digits. It was the 7th time overall.

- Dallas earned a 32-20 difference for points in the paint and 16-12 difference in points off turnovers. The guests committed 20 turnovers to UD's 14.

- The Gents were able to boast a 48-31 edge on the boards. This game ended a three-game streak where UD had snagged at least 40 rebounds.

- Centenary dished 21-15 advantage in assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Both squads started cold out of the jump ball with neither side getting points until Barstow hit a jumper two and a half minutes into the game. Centenary provided the first six points before Giadolor got the home team something to cheer for with 15:50. Victor Garate (Austin, Texas) connected on back-to-back treys for his only points of the day and gave UD its first edge 10-8. The Gents responded with consecutive threes by Harris and Kirkendoll, respectively.

Dallas earned its first tie of the game with Emmanuel Calton (Keller, Texas) splitting at the line and then Sarrat swishing his usual corner three-pointer to knot the board at 14 with 11:01 to go. After a few traded baskets, Giadolor lifted his team ahead and Gonzalez put down a trifecta on an assist from the previous scorer to reflect a 23-18 advantage home team at 7:14.

Centenary's Dyllon Weaver answered with a three of his own and eventually a stretch of five straight points flipped the score to the guests leading. A free throw by KJ Boyd cut the deficit to 24-22, and then he rattled a trey to claim a one-point edge. That point-difference increased to a pair after Boyd hit the backend of two at the line. With a little below three minutes, Rory MacCallum (Golden, Colo.) tied the game a 4th occasion with two free throws. The next five points went to Sapp for the Gents, including a made trifecta. The Crusaders did cut into the deficit to trail 31-29 at the intermission. Sarrat posted his only other field goal on a layup with 19 seconds left to conclude the final points of the stanza.

Kirkendoll threw down a dunk on a lob from Barstow to start the scoring in the second half. Three more ties happened through the first three minutes of the next stretch. Dallas got on a bit of a run starting with a jump shot from Kaiser that changed the score to 35-33 after a deadlock. Colvin made three of his next four free throws to build a 40-35 advantage. Sarrat extended UD's largest lead to six with 14:25 to play.

Matthews nipped the gap in half with a trey and then Kirkendoll nailed one of his own for another new ballgame. With 11:05 remaining in regulation, Centenary's Boyd and the Crusaders' Gonzalez exchanged triples in the midst of five lead changes during a one-minute span.

There was another good surge for the Navy and White around 9 minutes left and 4:48 left. Sarrat got UD on top 55-54 with 9:05. Kaiser stretched the lead on a fastbreak basket and drew a foul. He took advantage of the infraction and hit the extra free throw. Two more shots at the line for Colvin stretched the edge for the home team back to six with 7:26 in regulation.

Centenary closed the margin to one (64-63) on a jumper by Wyatt Behara and then Harris picked up a steal and dunked on a breakaway for a final lead change 65-64. Colvin tied the game at 65 to complete the final tie. Centenary's game-leading scorer sparked the momentum as Dallas went cold shooting the final five minutes with nine unanswered points helping the Maroon and White eventually lead by double-digits.

UP NEXT

Dallas plays its final regular season road games next weekend. The SCAC road stint starts on February 10 at Southwestern University. Tip-off is around 7:30 p.m. The day after, UD wraps up the last road conference game at Texas Lutheran University.