Breakout Performances help propel Men's Basketball on Tuesday
IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas men's basketball team (8-1) defeated Illinois College (1-9) on Tuesday, 80-66. After snapping a seven-game, winning streak earlier in the month, Dallas will cap off the 2014 portion of the schedule with its second best start since being undefeated at this point in the 2000-01 campaign.
The Crusaders pushed an 8-0 run after being locked in a 4-4 tie early on to gain control throughout the first half. UD maintained the momentum throughout the frame, boasting its first double-digit advantage of the contest, 23-13, with 9:04 left until intermission. Freshman Anthony Johnson (Texas City, Texas), who mustered a career-high 12 points, was responsible for that mark with the first of two free throws he would hit.
Illinois College held things around that point and would cut the deficit to eight with just under six minutes, but both squads went cold the final 5:18. Dallas would outscore the Blueboys 8-4 during this duration, and the home squad displayed a 40-26 edge at the break.
UD continued out of halftime applying pressure and despite each team pouring 40 points in the second stanza, the Crusaders benefited from a couple big offensive spurts that eventually lifted them to a 30-point lead.
Dallas did benefit from a 50.9-percent shooting performance in the triumph, while the Blueboys posted a 40-percent clip. Both team's did have nice showings from the bench, with the home squad holding a 32-23 edge. The mark was also six shy of UD's season-best which occurred in the home-opener against Southwestern Adventist University.
Senior Blaine Blackburn (Midlothian, Texas) paced a quartet of Crusaders with double figures in scoring. The guard poured in a season-high 18 points and knocked down three of the team's five trifectas in the affair.
Johnson's career-best and sophomore Tom Kaiser's (Nashville, Tenn.) 10 points came off the bench. Fellow classmate Michael Sarrat (Colleyville, Texas) also added 10 to round out the group of double-digit scorers.
Senior Aaron Wyatt (Frisco, Texas) grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and chipped in nine points. Kaiser added five boards and dished out three assists, marking a personal most on the season.
Dallas won the battle on the glass, holding a 36-26 difference over IC. Both teams were nearly even as the road squad committed just one more turnover, 16-15, and the squads came up with seven steals apiece. The Crusaders did benefit from 19 second chance points compared to five from their opponent.
The Blueboys were led by Brandon Fishburn with 13 points. Cody Hildebrand and Max Stutsman rounded out the double figure performers on the team with 11 and 10, respectively. Mitchell Patterson and Stutsman pulled down the most rebounds on the squad with five each.
Next Opponent:
Dallas will open the 2015 year on January 3 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) opener at Austin College. First tip is slated at 4 p.m.