SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Southwestern men's basketball outscored Dominican University 15-5 in the second overtime period to snag an 86-76 victory.
The Pirates set the tone by winning the tip and gaining the lead on a three by Travis Kurtz on their first possession and never handed the lead over to the Chargers, taking a seven point lead into the locker room, 29-22.
As the second half got underway, SU continued to play well and extended their lead to 11, 41-30, five minutes into the frame on another Kurtz three pointer. Dominican refused to go down without a fight and managed to chip away at the Pirates and tie the game for the third time, 54-54, with 3:43 to go in regulation.
Just two and a half minutes later the Pirates had built their lead back to seven, 63-56, only to have it erased in one minute as DU's Taylor DeRoo made a layup with ten seconds left on the clock to tie the game at 63. Chase Kocher's layup with six seconds remaining rimmed out to send the first overtime.
Dominican obviously had momentum on their side as overtime got underway, but the lead pinballed back and forth with five lead changes in just five minutes of play. A pair of free throws with 30 seconds remaining by Michael Cantu tied the game 71-71 to send the game into a second overtime frame.
It was all Southwestern in the final frame. The Chargers led early on a three pointer in their first possession by Anthony Keener. The Pirates took control at that point and then closed the game with eight unanswered points to arrive at the 86-76 final.
Southwestern got stronger offensively with each period, shooting 45.2% from the field for the game and 42.1% from long range. Cantu led SU with 27 points on 8-16 shooting from the floor and 10-13 from the charity stripe. Kurtz chipped in 20 points while Sean Myers posted his first double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Dominican's Logan Harris led all scorers with 28 points.
With the win the Pirates improves to 5-6 on the season. They remain in San Antonio to face Lake Forest College on Sunday who was defeatedd 68-55 by Trinity University.
