SAN ANTONIO, Texas - A slow start by the Southwestern University men's basketball team proved to be too much to overcome as they fell to the East Texas Baptist Tigers on Saturday evening on day two of the Leslie Robinson Memorial Classic.

It was a slow shooting night as well for the Pirates, going 23 of 75 (31%) and 3 of 18 (17%) from behind the arc. The Pirates were 17 of 26 from the free throw line. ETBU shot 40% from the field including 12 3-pointers, shooting 41% from deep. Southwestern outrebounded ETBU 53-47 while the two teams were close to even in turnovers, with the Tigers holding a slight 16-15 edge.

It was all ETBU from the start, racing out to a 28-11 lead in the first 12 minutes. Southwestern was able to cut it back down to 10, but the Tigers used an 11-2 run to push the lead to 19 at 39-20. The Tigers held a 39-23 lead at the break.

ETBU was able to open up a lead as high as 25 in the second half. Southwestern battled back throughout the final eight minutes of the second half, getting it down to 12, but never able to make the run to get back into the game.

Sophomore Ryan Wheeler scored 15 points to lead the way while senior Ryan Ogden scored 14 to go with 10 rebounds and four blocks. Sophomore Kyle Howard scored 10 points off the bench while Trenton Garrett pulled down 11 rebounds off the bench to go with three blocks. 

Darrice Whitley led ETBU with 15 points while Dion Mack scored 10 off the bench.

Southwestern moves to 3-6 overall and will take some time off for the holiday season. They will return to action on December 30th as they travel to Abilene to take on McMurry at 6 PM.