Cold Night for Crusaders at Schreiner; Secured SCAC Tournament Berth

Cold Night for Crusaders at Schreiner; Secured SCAC Tournament Berth

KERRVILLE, Texas – The University of Dallas men's basketball team dropped an 83-62 road contest at Schreiner University on Friday night. It was the second loss in a row in as many games to the Mountaineers (14-11, 10-6 SCAC), who continue their torrid climb up the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) standings. Dallas (9-15, 6-9 SCAC) has dropped its past four games in conference play.

There was good news for the Crusaders following the setback, as Texas Lutheran University toppled Austin College 81-63 to give UD a spot in the SCAC Tournament a week from tonight in Seguin.

Similar to last weekend in Irving, the Crusaders started with an early lead thanks to a nice run. However, the Mountaineers made a double-digit number of three-pointers (11) and were able to get ahead thanks to a swing in momentum in the scoring column.

The Crusaders rushed out to a 12-2 lead in the first five minutes. John Russell (Bossier City, La.) notched the first three UD field goals and Michael Wambsganss (Denver, Colo.) hit two trifectas to make it a 10-point advantage.

Schreiner's offense scuffled to seven points through ten and a half minutes, but then erupted for a huge 15-2 scoring run over the next four minutes.

Dallas meanwhile endured a 12:58 minute drought without a field goal through the rest of the first stanza into break. The Crusaders managed just eight free throws within that stretch.

Dallas trailed 38-24 at halftime.

The Crusaders never reduced the deficit into single digits the remainder of the game. A couple three-pointers, headlined by Wambsganss with five, would keep the Crusaders in striking distance. A free throw by Wambsganss on an old fashioned three-point play and then two free throws by Dustin Mathis (Fort Worth, Texas) narrowed the score as close as it came the rest of time.

Russell put in a layup with 3:52 left to narrow the score to 72-61. He was also the only player besides the leader of the game (Wambsganss with 24) to score double figures for UD.

Schreiner delivered eight points in a row to make it a 19-point gap with a little past a minute left.

Wambsganss was the leading scorer on both teams with 24 points. It is his fifth game with at least 20 points, but was the team's first setback when he achieves that feat. The sophomore guard also contributed five rebounds, two assists, and three steals. Russell added 10 points. Mathis chipped in five points with Jai Love. Mathis dished four assists and pulled down five boards to tie a team-high that game. Letrell Toussaint (Waco, Texas) grabbed four boards.

Dallas was outrebounded 38-25 overall and 16-3 on the offensive glass, which led to an 18-4 difference on second chance points. UD also turned the ball over 21 times compared to 10. Schreiner earned a 33-2 advantage on points off turnovers.

The Crusaders outshot Schreiner 46.3 percent to 44.4 percent from the field, but the home team made 28 field goals compared to UD's 19 and also had 22 more attempts. Both sides made 16 free throws, as the Crusaders hit 84.2 percent at the line.

The bench for Schreiner combined for 54 points. Josh Berry led the team with 14 points and seven boards. Josh Bashford was the highest scoring starter with 13 points. He added six rebounds. Chase Pinter and Ellis Jones tossed in 11 points apiece from the bench.


UP NEXT

Dallas concludes the regular season on Saturday at Trinity University (6 p.m.) These teams are batting to determine who the fifth and sixth seed is. The SCAC Bracket will be completed on Sunday.