Buzzer Beater drops Men's Basketball at Arlington Baptist College
ARLINGTON, Texas – The University of Dallas men's basketball team (10-14) were nipped by a buzzer-beater at Arlington Baptist College (11-11) on Tuesday night. Forced in a deadlock 63-all with eight seconds remaining, the Crusaders denied the home squad on the next possession and got the ball with two ticks left on the clock on a shot clock violation. However, the Patriots tipped an inbounds pass near their own basket, and Cedric Carson completed the game-winning layup as time expired. Kel Wallace got the steal and assist in the 65-63 final.
In a game with eight ties and four lead changes, Dallas would come out of the gates with the first four points in two minutes. ABC erased that margin by finally getting a layup from Caleb Brown with nearly three minutes elapsed from the clock. The field goal began a string of eight in a row for Arlington Baptist
Junior Michael Sarrat (Colleyville, Texas) drained a three-pointer with 14:07 left and started a streak of three treys in a row as freshman Darrius Colvin (Waco, Texas) went back-to-back on made field goals from downtown to spark a 13-3 scoring swing that lifted UD up by seven (with 9:11 until halftime. Sophomore Solomon Berezin (League City, Texas) nailed a trey of his own to seal that run.
Dallas went up by as many as nine with 7:23 left on a Sarrat layup, but the Patriots had a 19-10 run to complete the last seven minutes of the stanza. This included eight points in the final 1:23 minutes, with six coming off a pair of Brandon Bonner trifectas. The scoreboard was knotted 34-34 at intermission.
After a few points exchanged, the Crusaders pushed the first second half charge with nine straight to go in front 45-38 through the first five minutes. Colvin and junior Lorenzo Gonzalez split the scoring for the Navy and White during that stretch.
The next five minute-block belonged to the home squad, as the Patriots rattled off 12 unanswered that started with a Quinton Moore three, and ended with a Jamie Briceno jumper from long range. Both teams fought to maintain the current distance, and Carson would pull ABC up by seven (61-54) on a trey with barely over four minutes on the time.
Two Gonzalez free throws and a Sarrat layup over the next minute and a half made the contest one possession, 61-58, before Isaiah Hicks countered a jumper on the next trip for Arlington Baptist. UD's senior Sean Bambace (San Antonio, Texas) drilled a triple to cut the gap 63-61 with exactly a minute left. It was his lone field goal attempt of the game.
The Crusaders' defense forced another empty possession and Gonzalez tied the game with 33 seconds left on two makes at the charity stripe. That set the stage for the dramatic ending.
Dallas has dropped six straight and is 7-3 overall against Arlington Baptist. All three setbacks have come in just as many meetings in the Patriots' home arena.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Two players led Dallas with 14 points apiece in sophomore Rory MacCallum (Golden, Colo.) and Colvin. MacCallum notched his second straight double-double with 10 rebounds. Colvin just missed with nine boards.
- Gonzalez chipped in 12 points to round out the trio of double-digit performances. He led the team with five assists. Joining the point guard were Sarrat (4) and Bambace (3) compiling 12 of the team's 15 dimes.
- Dallas swiped 10 steals, which tied a season-high with Trinity University on January 22 and at Southwestern University on Jan. 9. Sarrat snatched a career-high six.
- The Crusaders shot 48 percent from the field compared to 41.9 percent from ABC. The rebounding column favored the guests 36-24. The Patriots won the turnover battle 24-16 and had 13 steals.
- Bonner had a game-high 16 points and was 4-of-9 from three-point range. Carson followed with 15 points and six assists. Hicks added 14 points.
UP NEXT
Dallas ends the regular season at Austin College on February 20 at 2 p.m. The Crusaders can clinch the final spot in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) with a victory.