Final moment pushes Texas Lutheran by Crusaders Friday
SEGUIN, Texas – The University of Dallas men's basketball team (5-5, 1-1 SCAC) fell by one on Friday evening at Texas Lutheran University (10-3, 2-0 SCAC) by a 73-72 result. TLU's Zach Behr would get a difficult layup in the final five seconds to sink through the net, as three of the game's 10 lead changes occurred in the last minute of regulation. There were also seven ties throughout the contest.
From the first jump ball, both teams fought to a 10-all deadlock through the first four and a half minutes. From that juncture, a jumper by sophomore Emmanuel Calton (Keller, Texas) sparked a 9-0 run over the next two minutes. The Bulldogs countered back with nine unanswered to knot the scoreboard with 9:10 until intermission.
After the teams traded leads, Dallas would orchestrate an 11-4 scoring swing to open back up another multiple possession game with 3:18. Sterling Holmes for the Black and Gold notched a three-pointer to nip the margin to four, and would send the momentum on their side with 11 of the next 13 points tallied to capture a 36-34 edge. UD's junior Michael Sarrat (Colleyville, Texas) connected on a pair of last second free throws to bring a back-and-forth opening stanza to a 36-36 halftime.
Texas Lutheran came out of the break with a 9-1 scoring span to boast its greatest advantage of the game by eight (45-37). UD clawed back to a one possession score, thanks to consecutive field goals by freshman Darrius Colvin (Waco, Texas) – his trey with 14:06 remaining cut the gap to 48-46. Junior Lorenzo Gonzalez (San Antonio, Texas) drilled another three after the Bulldogs' Parris Marquez layup to narrow the gap at 50-49. In that moment, the Crusaders were not able to overcome the hump, with the home squad rattling seven-straight points to go up eight again with 11:08 to play.
A 10-1 run for the guests, from 8:21-3:59 minutes to go in the second half, set the stage for a nail-biter ending. Freshman Prince Giadolor (Rockwall, Texas) tied things 63-all with 5:02 left, and junior Tom Kaiser (Nashville, Tenn.) put UD ahead briefly just over a minute later on one of two free throws.
After a Holmes layup, Dallas got in front by three with a Kaiser inside field goal and pair of Colvin shots at the line. After an exchange of field goals, TLU's Harris Jowell layup jumped his squad up 72-71 with 52 seconds on the clock. Giadolor responded on a layup of his own 21 ticks later, before the final heroic field goal dropped on the home team's basket. A desperation trey by the Crusaders hit off the rim, as their four-game winning streak ended at the defending SCAC Tournament Champion's court.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- For the first time this season, five UD players cracked double-digit scoring performances. The quintet was led by Kaiser's third double-double of the year, 15 points to match a career-high total in boards. Also within the unit included: Giadolor, Gonzalez, and Sarrat with 12 points apiece. Colvin added 11 off the bench.
- Dallas shot 48.3 percent (28-of-58) from the floor, 29.4 percent (5-of-17), and 52.4 percent (11-of-21) from the charity stripe. Calton and Sarrat led the team with four assists each. UD won the rebounding battle, 39-37, overall with a 27-24 edge on the offensive glass. Kaiser's pair of blocks shattered a career-high of 16 on the year.
- The Bulldogs did outscore Dallas 16-9 on second chance points, and 16-13 on points off turnovers. UD committed 12 miscues compared to Texas Lutheran's eight. Points in the paint were nearly even, as TLU edged the visitors slightly, 42-40.
- Holmes garnered a game-high 21 points and team-high seven rebounds. Also recording a double figure scoring night was Paris with 11. The team shot 42.3 percent (27-of-64) in field goals, 27.8 percent (5-of-18) downtown, and 73.7 percent (14-of-19) at the line.
THOUGHTS FROM COACH SAMPLES
"Every game in the SCAC is a war. Our guys battled tonight and gave ourselves a chance. However, it's tough to win on the road against a well-coached TLU team when you only shoot 11-21 from the FT line. We left too many points out there. I thought Tom Kaiser was outstanding tonight, and seemed like he grabbed every rebound. We received a great balance in our scoring with Kaiser, Sarrat, Zo, Prince, and Darrius all getting double figures. We don't have time to hang our heads, because we have another tough one tomorrow against Southwestern." –Head Coach Jarred Samples.
UP NEXT
Dallas is at Southwestern University tomorrow. First tip at 4 p.m.