GEORGETOWN - The Southwestern University men's basketball team could not overcome a tough shooting night as they fell to a long and athletic Texas-Tyler team by the score of 86-68 on Saturday afternoon at the Robertson Center.
The Pirates were 21 of 73 (29%) from the field and 8 of 30 (27%) from deep. Southwestern got to the free throw line 24 times and shot 75%. Texas-Tyler was red-hot from the field, shooting 34 of 69 (49%) including 11 of 24 (46%) from downtown. The Patriots hold a slight 46-45 advntage in rebounds while Southwestern forced 17 turnovers to only 15 on their end.
Texas-Tyler raced out to an early 6-1 lead and pushed it out to 17-4 in the first five minutes. Southwestern settled in and responded with a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to three and the two teams went at it back-and-forth as the game was tied at 29 with about three minutes to play in the first half.
The Patriots maintained their lead and outscored the Pirates 7-2 to end the half with a 36-31 lead.
It would be all Texas-Tyler in the second half as they slowly built their lead to double digits, outscoring the Pirates 50-37 in the second half. Texas-Tyler was unbelievable in the second half, shooting 58% from the field and connecting on eight 3s to pull away for the 18 point win.
Sophomore Ryan Wheeler had another excellent night off the bench, finishing with 17 points on 5 of 10 shooting including three 3-pointers. Sophomore Brandon Alexander scored 14 off the bench and pulled down nine rebounds while sophomore Mike May scored 13 to go with seven rebounds.
Senior Ryan Ogden scored 11 to go with six assists and five rebounds while freshman Trenton Garrett scored five to go with four rebounds and three steals off the bench. Sophomore Luke Hicks had five assists and two steals.
Emeka Obukwelu led Texas-Tyler with a dominant 26 points and 16 rebounds while Melvin Anthony pitched in with 14 points. Skyler Hadden had 12 points while Cameron Frank scored 10.
Southwestern falls to 1-1 overall on the season and will return to action on Tuesday evening as they welcome in Concordia Texas for a 7:30 PM tip-off.
