A strong defensive effort helped the SU men's basketball team pull out its ninth win of the season by a 55-52 margin over the University of Dallas Crusaders in Georgetown, TX on Sunday (Feb. 10).
In the opening half, the Pirates allowed Dallas to make just five field goals. They built their lead up as high as 11 on a pair of occasions, the second time coming with 7:47 on the clock as senior Mike Powell (Houston, TX/Episcopal HS) hit a pair of free throws. At halftime, the Pirates were holding on to a 26-20 lead.
During the second half, SU jumped out quickly to a 12-point lead with 16:59 remaining thanks to a Ross Hayes (Houston, TX/Clements HS) layup. The Crusaders then put together a 13-2 run to bring the score to 36-35 less than four minutes later. The Pirates managed to hold on to the lead and went back up by eight with 7:21 remaining. Dallas quickly closed the gap and tied the game at 51-51 with 2:33 on the clock. Sophomore Anthony Cox (Flower Mound, TX/Flower Mound HS) made two free throws for a two-point lead that was lowered to one as Dallas got a free throw with 41 seconds to play. UD had the ball with 21 seconds left and a chance at the win but Cox came up with a huge steal with five seconds on the clock and first-year Jonathan Brown (Houston, TX/Jersey Village HS) capped the game with a fast break layup at the buzzer for the 55-52 win.
Cox ended the game with a team-high 12 points on 4-6 shooting from the field while also recording a career-high four steals. He was 2-2 from three-point range and 2-4 from the charity stripe. Sophomore Travis Barber (Houston, TX/Klein HS) finished the game with a career-high in assists, with four.
Junior Andrew McDonald (Austin, TX/Westwood HS) also set a new career-high in the game as he was credited with three blocked shots. Powell finished the game with nine points while Zach Bergstrom (La Vernia, TX/La Vernia HS) pitched in eight points.
The Pirates forced 21 turnovers while recording a season-high 14 steals as a team. They were out-rebounded 37-34 and turned the ball over just 15 times. SU shot 35 percent (20-54) from the floor, 33.3 percent (7-21) from beyond the three-point arc and just 50 percent (8-16) from the free throw line.
Southwestern pushes its record to 9-12 on the season and 7-3 in games played at the Robertson Center. Dallas falls to 10-13.
The Pirates will host Millsaps College on Friday (Feb. 15) and Hendrix College on Saturday (Feb. 16) for the final home games of the season with both games scheduled to start at 8:00 pm.
