Men's Basketball drops Centre College (KY), 75-66, for SCAC win No. 4; Bruffey nets game-high, combines for 41-points with Stephens

IRVING, Texas - The University of Dallas men's basketball team (6-14, 4-7 SCAC) took care of Centre College (Kent.), 75-66, on Sunday afternoon at the Maher Athletic Center behind junior forward Tanner Bruffey's game-high 21 points.

The 6-foot-5 Bruffey (Lubbock, Texas/Home School) finished with 21-points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field, including a 3-of-7 mark from 3-point range, while sinking 10-of-12 attempts from the free-throw line. He also had three rebounds, two assists, a block and two steals in 33 minutes.

Centre's (13-6, 7-4 SCAC) Jeff Mullaney gave his Colonels an early 2-0 advantage with a converted jumper at 18:23 of the first half. However, Centre's scoreboard advantage was short-lived as Dallas quickly responded with a Joe Stephens (Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound H.S.) jumper on the ensuing possession. For the next 37:22, the Crusaders would not trail.

Stephens, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard, amassed 20-points on 7-of-17 shooting from the floor, including a 4-of-6 effort from distance, while sinking both free-throw attempts. Stephens coupled his offensive-success with four rebounds (one offensive), an assist and a steal in 33 minutes.

Taking a 35-29 lead into halftime, Dallas shot 44.4-percent (12-of-27) in the opening half, while holding Centre to 34.5-percent (10-of-29) shooting from the field.

In the second half, Dallas had to stave-off a determined Centre squad, who trimmed their deficit to three-points (54-51) with 7:12 remaining in regulation.

The Crusaders, however, persevered down the stretch, claiming a game-high 12 point, 74-62 advantage with 38-seconds remaining in the contest. When the final buzzer sounded, Dallas had achieved a 75-66 victory and consecutive wins for the first time in the 2011-2012 season.

Outscoring the Colonels in the second-half 40-37, Dallas shot 44-percent (11-of-25) for the half from the field, with Centre draining a slightly better clip of 44.8-percent (13-of-29).

For the game, Dallas led points-off-turnovers (12-7) and bench-points (20-9), while their adversaries took points-in-the-paint (22-18) and second-chance points (10-5).

Dallas' ability to get to the free-throw line proved a key stat, as the Crusaders put home 21-of-28 from the charity stripe, as opposed to Centre's mark of 12-of-18 on the game.

Kym Malone (Richardson, Texas/Richardson Berkner H.S.) was Dallas' third player to enter double-figure scoring, as the 5-foot-10 freshman guard totalled 10-points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field, while netting 2-of-4 from the free-throw line. He also had a team-high eight rebounds (one offensive) to go with three assists and a steal in 29 minutes.

Next opponent: 

Dallas hits the road for an 8 p.m. contest verus SCAC foe Hendrix College (Ark.) on Friday, Feb. 3, in Conway, Ark.