Sharpshooting Second Half helps Men's Basketball topple Sul Ross State University
IRVING, Texas – A solid effort by the University of Dallas men's basketball team (3-4) was enough to capture its third victory in four games on Saturday over Sul Ross State University (2-6). The final score favored Dallas, 77-65, as the home squad outscored the Lobos by 10 in the second half (44-34). The Crusaders connected on a season most made three-point field goals, and posted a season-best 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from behind the arc. Additionally, UD matched a season-high 54.2 (13-of-24) field goal shooting percentage in a half. That mark was displayed in the final 20 minutes for the Navy and White.
In the first possession of the game, SRSU turned the ball over and junior Michael Sarrat (Colleyville, Texas) sank his lone trifecta in the contest to put Dallas ahead. Sophomore Emmanuel Calton (Keller, Texas) hit a jumper on the next trip down to give the Crusaders a 5-0 start. However, the guests came back quickly with four-straight points and knotted things 6-all just under three minutes from the opening jump ball.
A 12-5 run for the Lobos near the mid-way portion of the stanza would give them their greatest advantage of the afternoon, seven points. A layup by junior Tom Kaiser (Nashville, Tenn.) and trey by classmate Victor Garate (Austin, Texas) nipped the deficit to a pair (18-16) with 7:46 minutes left until intermission.
After four unanswered for SRSU, freshman TJ Cooks (Jenks, Okla.) would drain a three-pointer and spark a 13-1 scoring swing that propelled the Crusaders up for good. Sophomore Rory MacCallum (Golden, Colo.), junior Lorenzo Gonzalez (San Antonio, Texas), freshman Prince Giadolor, and senior Sean Bambace (San Antonio, Texas), all netted points during the run. A Gonzalez jump shot with 4:53 tied things 23-all, and Giadolor's pair of free throws lifted UD ahead.
Dallas would narrowly lead 33-31 at the break, as the Lobos tallied eight of the next 12 points through the buzzer. At the start of the second half, the Crusaders connected on the first two successful field goals from Calton and Giadolor, respectively, to swing the momentum back. A few exchanges later, Gonzalez would start a 7-3 run with a triple and ended on a layup to give the Navy and White a nine-point edge (46-37).
With 12:44 in regulation, and Dallas up 46-42, consecutive trifectas by Garate and freshman Darrius Colvin (Waco, Texas) – his lone field goal made – would open the squad's first double-digit advantage (52-42). The largest the edge would grow to was 13 on a layup by Kaiser to reflect a 66-53 margin just under five minutes in the frame. Things were in the Crusaders' control at this point, with the Lobos rattling six points in a row to cut the gap to seven. Cooks and Gonzalez tossed in back-to-back layups and UD sank seven free throws for the remaining points on their side. Cooks did etch five of his 11 points during that span.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Sarrat headlined Dallas in the scoring column with 15 points and one of the team's two double figure performers. The guard surpassed 500 points in his career, and went a perfect eight-for-eight at the charity stripe for a season-best. It's the second time this year Sarrat has been 100 percent at the line with at least six attempts.
- Cooks contributed 11 points for his second personal high and Gonzalez and Giadolor were just under the double-digit plateau with nine apiece. Gonzalez dished a game-high six assists and swiped four of the team's nine steals.
- MacCallum garnered 10 rebounds to lead the Crusaders with his second double figure total in that category this campaign. It's happened in two of the last three, while compiling 27 in that span.
- Dallas outshot Sul Ross State 45.5 percent (25-of-55) to 33.8 percent (24-of-71) from the floor. The Lobos were less than five percent (1-of-24) from long range. UD passed more assists 18-8.
- The battle of the boards was nearly even with the home team edging 45-44. However, SRSU snagged 19 offensive rebounds and tallied 15 second chance points to the Crusaders' four.
- Pacing Sul Ross State with a game-high 17 points was Rocky Feliciano. He led a quartet of double figure scorers as Caleb Thomasson followed with 16 and claimed a double-double with 13 rebounds. Brock Anders and Jacob Dawson completed the group with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Mike Huffman snatched 11 off the glass.
QUOTE FROM COACH SAMPLES
"It is tough to play right after finals. I thought we looked sluggish in the first half, but things finally started to click in the second. We were moving the ball and knocking in shots. I thought Lorenzo and Mike played great all-around games, while also getting good production from our bench: Rory, TJ, Vic, and Sean." – Men's Basketball Head Coach Jarred Samples
UP NEXT
Dallas enjoys Christmas and will return to the court on December 29 versus Luther College (IA). Tip-off slated at 4 p.m.