GEORGETOWN - The Southwestern University men's basketball team fell short to the Schreiner Mountaineers on Friday evening, suffering their first SCAC loss of the season by the score of 94-88 at the Robertson Center.
Southwestern shot 25 of 62 (40%) from the field and connected on 12 three-pointers. The Pirates were also excellent from the free throw line, going 26 of 31 (84%). On the other end, Schreiner was red hot from the field, shooting 32 of 66 (49%) including 10 of 21 from deep (48%) and 20 of 30 (67%) from the line.
The Pirates outrebounded the Mountaineers 39-38, but Schreiner caused 16 Pirates turnovers to only 12. Schreiner also got 44 bench points to Southwestern's 33.
A dunk to open the game by freshman Trenton Garrett followed by back-to-back 3-pointers from sophomore Ryan Wheeler gave Southwestern an early 8-3 advantage. They pushed that lead out to 16-7 thanks to the 3-ball from sophomores Brandon Alexander and Justin McCormack and held a 21-11 lead at the midway point of the half after another 3-pointer, this time from sophomore Joel Martinez.
Southwestern maintained their lead as Schreiner began to claw back into it, leading 28-19 with 5:30 to go. However, the Mountaineers caught fire and closed the half on a 21-5, taking over the game and taking all the momentum into the break, leading 40-33.
Schreiner scored the first points of the second half to open the lead to nine, but an 12-0 run by Southwestern thanks to five points from sophomore Kyle Howard and four points from sophomore Luke Hicks gave the Pirates the lead back at 45-42.
Southwestern maintained this lead in the early goings of the second half and pushed it out to six points with 10:25 to play.
Leading 70-65 with 7:13 to play, it was Schreiner who caught fire yet again, going on a 14-1 run to take control of the gave with 4:15 to play, leading 79-71. Southwestern fought in the waining minutes, getting within five with two mintues to play, but it was not enough as the Mountaineers escaped Georgetown with the win.
Hicks scored 20 points on 7 of 10 shooting including four boards while Howard scored 16 points to go with four steals. Wheelers scored 15 points including three 3-pointers while Alexander and McCormack each scored 11 points off the bench. Alexander and sophomore Jake Holmes pulled down seven boards each while Holmes blocked three shots.
For Schreiner, Ellis Jones scored 20 off the bench while Blake Kelly added 19 points and three blocks. Keenan Gumbs had a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards.
Southwestern falls to 6-8 overall and 2-1 in the SCAC. They return to action on Sunday as they welcome in Trinity for a 4 PM tip-off.