Dallas Falls to Southwestern University on Senior Day
IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas men's basketball team dropped its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) contest 90-79 to Southwestern University on Saturday. The Crusaders (12-11, 8-8 SCAC) took an early lead and held onto it for most of the first half, but with two minutes Southwestern (10-13, 6-10 SCAC) tied the game at 29 and later took a 37-33 lead into the break. In the second half, both teams battled until Dallas finally was able to tie the game at 64. UD fought with the Pirates all the way until the end but could not find a way to swing the momentum. UD missed shots late, while SU was able to find a large run and hit its free throws in the final minutes.
It took nearly two minutes before there was a score, but Dallas took the first five points in the contest after a jumper from Jai Love (St. Louis, Mo.) and a three-pointer from Isaiah Hayes (Arlington, Texas) fell. Southwestern then tied the game up and found its first lead (8-5) at the 15:52 mark. A 13-2 Dallas run with the help of three, three-pointers looked to give Dallas all the momentum. The two teams went back-and-forth and UD would go up 22-15 with seven minutes to play. SU had a 6-2 run to cut the lead to 24-21. With two minutes left in the first half, SU was able to tie up the game at 29 after Calvin Williams hit two free throws. After a Dallas free throw, Luke Hicks hit a trey to put SU back on top and spurred an 8-3 run to end the half.
SU expanded its lead to 40-33 in the second half, until Scott Bolen (Houston, Texas) hit a three-pointer to end the Pirates run. SU grabbed a 48-40 lead with 16:46 to play, but Dallas went on a roll once again. A 7-2 Dallas frenzy cut the lead to just three (50-47) after Dustin Mathis (Fort Worth, Texas) nailed his three-pointer. Southwestern kept hitting shots, but UD slowly inched its way back and was able to tie the game at 60 with nine minutes left. Mathis converted his layup attempt with eight minutes remaining on the next series and gave UD its first lead since the 2:49 mark of the first half. After it was tied at 64, SU outscored Dallas 9-2 in the next three minutes to gain back the lead and go up 73-66. Letrell Toussaint (Waco, Texas) converted a basket and a foul shot attempt to get the Crusaders within four. SU delivered another big run (8-2) to take the wind out of the Crusaders sails. Dallas then just ran out of time as SU was able to make its foul shots down the stretch while several UD shots failed to fall.
Southwestern shot 30-62 (48.4%) from the field and made six three-pointers in the game. SU also converted 24 of its 32 attempts at the foul line. The Pirates outrebounded Dallas 38-34 and turned the ball over four less times. A big stat line included 19 second chance points for SU as compared to just six for the Crusaders. Both teams has seven fast break points. Kyle Howard, Trenton Garrett, and Hicks all had 15 points in the contest. Brandon Alexander added 13 points and a team-leading nine rebounds.
Dallas ended the game with a 22-54 (40.7%) mark from the field with eight three-pointers off of 30 attempts. UD did convert a season-high 27 made free throws as they got to the foul line 27 times (the most in a conference game this season). Love led the Dallas offense with 17 points and a game-high five assists. Love was solid at the charity stripe as he gathered a 10-11 effort. Mathis added 16 points and four assists with a 5-11 mark from the field. Toussaint and Cameran Hyde (Missouri City, Texas) both finished with 12 points apiece. Calvin Williams was a perfect 6-6 at the foul line and gave the Pirates 10 points with his effort.
Bolen, Hayes, John Russell (Bossier City, La.) and Michael Wambsganss (Denver, Colo.) were all honored before tip-off on Senior Day.
UP NEXT
Dallas hits the road for the final weekend of the regular season. UD will first take on the University of St. Thomas (TX) on Friday at 5:30 p.m. The Crusaders will then face Centenary College on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.
