Men's Basketball cannot slow No. 14 Birmingham-Southern College (AL); Hightower nets team-high 25-points for Crusaders in 100-78 road loss
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The University of Dallas men's basketball team (4-14, 2-7 SCAC) was handed a 100-78 defeat by No. 14 Birmingham-Southern College (Ala.) on Saturday evening, after the Panthers put home 58.1-percent (36-of-62) from the field.
Birmingham-Southern (16-1, 8-1 SCAC) jumped out to an eight point, 13-5 lead at the 17:42-mark of the first half. Despite early success for the Panthers, Dallas began to settle in. The Crusaders pulled to within one-point of levelling the score, nine different times in the opening half.
One such instance occurred at 9:30 of the first-half when 5-foot-9 sophomore guard Braeton Hightower (Owasso, Okla./Owasso H.S.) sank a layup on the fast break, making the score 25-24 in favor of the Panthers.
Hightower's night's work included amassing 16 of his team-high 25-points in the first half. On the game, he shot 8-of-14 from the field, knocking down 4-of-10 from 3-point range. Hightower also went a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line, while hauling in two rebounds (one offensive) and tallying an assist in 32-minutes on the court.
Hot 3-point shooting by Birmingham-Southern to end the first half, helped the Panthers enter the locker-room up by a 10 point, 54-44 margin.
Both teams were rather successful from the field in the first half, with Dallas netting 63-percent (17-of-27) of their attempts in comparison to Birmingham-Southern's mark of 61.3-percent (19-of-31). Dallas sank 5-of-6 from the free-throw line in the first-half while the Panthers went 10-of-13.
A seven point, 63-56 deficit at 14:09 of the second-half proved the closest Dallas would come to threatening Birmingham-Southern for the remainder of the game.
Boasting a double-figure lead for nearly the entirety of the second half, the Panthers swelled their lead to a game-high 23 point, 93-70 margin with 3:55 remaining in regulation, before pulling out the 100-78 victory.
In the second half, Birmingham-Southern netted 54.8-percent (17-of-31) from the field, while Dallas countered with only 34.3-percent (12-of-35) shooting.
The Panthers' Zac Richards led all scorers, totalling 27-points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field and a 7-of-9 effort from the charity stripe.
Birmingham-Southern had six players enter double-figure scoring, while Dallas had three.
Apart from Hightower, 6-foot-5 junior forward Tanner Bruffey (Lubbock, Texas/Home School) contributed 18-points while 6-foot-3 sophomore guard Joe Stephens (Flower Mound, Texas/ Flower Mound H.S.) pitched in 15 for the Crusaders.
For the game, Birmingham-Southern deposited 16-of-23 from the free-throw line, while Dallas knocked down 8-of-9.
Birmingham-Southern won points-off-turnovers (26-10), points-in-the-paint (46-16) and bench points (36-12).
Next opponent:
Dallas will host Sewanee: University of the South (Tenn.) on Friday, Jan. 27, in an 8:00 p.m. tip-off at 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).