Men's Basketball falls to Southwestern University, 63-52; Bruffey nets double-double for Crusaders, while Stephens and Wyatt combine for 21 points
GEORGETOWN, Texas - The University of Dallas men's basketball team (2-8, 0-3 SCAC) was defeated, 63-52, on the road Saturday evening, amid a second-half surge by the Pirates of Southwestern University.
6-foot-5 freshman forward Aaron Wyatt (Frisco, Texas/Prestonwood Christian Academy) put Dallas up 2-0 with a layup at 18:13 of the first half.
Wyatt totaled four of his 11-points on the game in the first half. His final stat-line included netting 4-of-8 from the field, and sinking 3-of-5 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed seven rebounds (three offensive) in 27-minutes of play.
After some back-and-forth, 6-foot-5 junior forward Tanner Bruffey (Lubbock, Texas/Home School) gave the Crusaders a 13-6, seven-point advantage at the 12:42 mark, with his already made third 3-pointer of the contest.
Bruffey amassed a game-high 17-points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field, including a 5-of-9 effort from 3-point range. He also nabbed a game-high 13 rebounds (two offensive) to record a double-double. Additionally, Bruffey had an assist and a steal in 36-minutes of game action.
Dallas held Southwestern (1-9, 1-3 SCAC) to just 19 first-half points, with the Pirates shooting 28-percent (7-of-25) in the opening period. The Crusaders boasted a 25-19 halftime lead, after 37.5-percent (9-of-24) first-half shooting from the field.
The wheels fell off in the second-half for a Dallas squad seeking their first Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) victory as a first-year member of the conference.
Southwestern grasped their second lead, 35-33, of the game at 11:53 of the second half, and didn't look back -- the Blake Scott layup afforded the Pirates two of their 28-points in the paint for the game, as opposed to Dallas' 14 in the category.
Southwestern motored onward, growing their lead to a game-high 13-points with 3:23 remaining in regulation, before handing Dallas the 63-52 loss.
Dallas scored 27-points in the final period, on 32-percent (8-of-25) shooting from the field. Meanwhile, Southwestern garnered 44 second-half points, converting 44.8-percent (13-of-29) of their attempted shots.
6-foot-3 sophomore guard Joe Stephens (Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound H.S.) tallied 10-points to become Dallas' third double-digit scorer. Stephens put home 4-of-8 from the field, including 2-of-4 from distance. He also had seven rebounds (three offensive) and an assist in 34-minutes of play.
A key cog in this contest proved to be the free-throw line, where Southwestern sank 19-of-26 to counter Dallas' 11-of-17 night from the charity stripe.
Next opponent:
Dallas will host Luther College (Iowa) on Thursday, Dec. 29, at 4 p.m. in the Maher Athletic Center.
The game will be streamed live online via collegetvticket.com, and in-game updates will be provided on Facebook (UDallasAthletics) and Twitter (UDallasSports).