GEORGETOWN, TEXAS - The Robertson Center saw sensational action this past weekend as the Southwestern men's basketball team won in the last second of the game on a three-point shot from senior guard, Chris Smith Jr. The Pirates, coming off a dominant win over Austin College, needed a complete team effort to get the win over the University of Dallas Crusaders on Saturday night.
Both teams got off to a slow start scoring baskets, the score only lay at 10-16 with eight minutes remaining in the first half but each team began to find their offensive rhythm in the latter stages of the first. Nine Pirates got in on the scoring action in the first half and Chris Smith Jr. led the Pirates in scoring in the first, going 75 percent from behind the three-point line as he seemed to hit his three-pointers at just the right time to keep the Pirates in the lead.
Brock Luechtefeld followed close behind Smith with eight points, while freshman Shobby Enakpene and junior Sam Lacy tacked on five points each to help the Pirates maintain a 40-33 lead going into halftime. Despite being outrebounded by the Crusaders, the Pirates made up for it by working for good shots, shooting an effective 47 percent from the field in the first half compared to just 30 percent from the Crusaders.
The Pirates maintained their lead throughout the first ten minutes of the second half without issue, but as the halfway point was reached, the Crusaders cut the lead to just three points to make it 53-56. It was then over the course of the next five minutes of game time, that Dallas began to close the gap and eventually take a 64-63 with just over five minutes remaining in the game.
Each team swung back and forth at each other until the score was tied at 74-74, but a score by Dallas would give them a 76-74 lead and the Pirates the ball with only a few seconds remaining on the clock. The Pirates called timeout as it was their turn to inbound the ball.
Head Coach Connor Kuykendall elected freshman Luke Hatcher to inbound the ball. When the whistle blew, Hatcher flung the ball to half court, where Luechtfeled received the pass and immediately turned and heaved a pass towards Smith's direction. Smith was able to jump and catch the ball; he waited till his defender went up and shot the ball as his defender was going down. The ball hit off the backboard perfectly and went through the net as time expired on the clock. Chaos ensued as the Pirates capped off a successful weekend at the Robertson Center.
Only one game remains at the Robertson for the Pirates in the 2022-2023 season. Men's basketball will travel to Louisiana to take on the Centenary College Gents on Friday, January 27th at 7:30 PM.
