Crusaders Men's Basketball Falls in Home-Opening Thriller to Preseason Favorite St. Thomas
IRVING, Texas - The University of Dallas men's basketball team began its four-game home stand against Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) opponent University of St. Thomas University from Houston this weekend. Dallas lost in the first game of the two-game series with St. Thomas, who were the preseason SCAC favorite, 80-77. It was a hard fought game that featured eight lead changes and four ties.
The final tie of the contest was at 71 with barely under two minutes. Marcus Juarez (Clint, Texas) drilled a three-pointer to break the tie. A Jai Love (St. Louis, Mo.) three pushed UD's lead to 77-73 after a St. Thomas basket. The guests had a trey by Cameron Gims slash the score to one. A turnover got the Celts the ball and Juan Hood put them on top with a shot that highlighted the final seven-point stretch of regulation for them.
Dallas (0-3) and St. Thomas (2-1) shot comparably from the floor with UD shooting at 44.3% (31-70) and the Celts shooting 43.3% (29-67). The Crusaders' advantage in the game was from beyond the arc shooting 40% (12-30) to St. Thomas' 29.4% (10-34). The Celts held the advantage from the foul line as they shot 12-15 for free throws versus UD's 3-4.
The Celts had the first big wave of momentum in the game early in the first half. After UD took a 5-4 lead, St. Thomas scored 12 straight points in just over two minutes to take a 16-5 lead. Dallas then took over the frame out-scoring St. Thomas 29-8 for their largest lead of the half at 34-24. The Celts then ended the half with a 10-2 run to bring the halftime score to 36-34.
The second half started with a slight edge to Dallas. After eight minutes of play UD's lead climbed to 57-46, which matched its largest lead of the game at 11. St. Thomas then scored the next 10 points to cut the deficit to one. From then on neither team had a lead greater than four the rest of the game. After two lead changes and three ties, St. Thomas took their final lead of the game with 1:28 at 78-77. Dallas failed to tie the game on their last two three-point attempts with 14 and 11 seconds left.
Love tied for the game-high in scoring with 20 points with St. Thomas' Hood. This was Love's second 20-point performance of the season.
Letrell Toussaint (Waco, Texas) registered his third straight double-double in as many games with 16 points and 13 rebounds. He led the Crusader for the game in assists, steals, and blocks with four, two, and two.
Cameran Hyde (Missouri City, TX) and Michael Wambsganss (Denver, CO) each added 13 points apiece for Dallas.
Three other Celt starters, in addition to Hood, scored over 10 points. Christian Alaekwe scored 18 points, Adam Kanafani scored 13, and Cameron Gims scored 11. Alaekwe, Gims, and Freddie Ricks also had two blocked shots apiece.
Dallas will take on St. Thomas on Saturday for game two of the series. The rematch will start at 4 p.m. after the UD's women's game. A reminder that there are no spectators at the games right now, but all the action can be followed on udallasathletics.com and College TV Ticket.