GEORGETOWN, Tex. – The Southwestern men’s basketball team was able to overcome a slow start on Saturday afternoon to hold off Schreiner University 64-59. With the win the Pirates improve to 7-1 on the season while Schreiner falls to 0-9.

The Mountaineers jumped on the Pirates early, earning a quick lead by holding SU to just two points in the opening five minutes. The lead and scoring drought wouldn’t last long, however, as Southwestern was able to build a 12 point lead with three minutes remaining in the half behind senior Zach Bergstrom’s 17 first half points.

Schreiner pulled within six with five seconds remaining in the half on a well executed set play that resulted in a made three pointer by Riley Battle to bring the count to 31-25 going into the break.

The second half was much of the same with a pesky Schreiner team lurking in the shadows awaiting the opportunity to snatch the game from the Pirates. Southwestern never allowed the Mountaineers closer than three points and built their lead back up to ten, 55-45, after a timely three by senior Travis Barber that killed a Schreiner push.

With two minutes remaining in the contest Schreiner pulled within three once again on a lay-up by Aaron Hamilton but SU responded with a layup of their own by junior Jonathan Brown to push the lead back to five.

A final stop by the Pirate defense forced the Mountaineers to foul in order to attempt to get back in the game, but Southwestern drained seven of their eight free throws down the stretch to secure the 64-59 victory.

Bergstrom led all scorers with 21 points while Brown chipped in a solid 14 points. Schreiner was led by Hamilton who had 18 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

Southwestern will return to action after the holiday break at the second half of the SU/TU Classic. They travel to San Antonio to take on Dominican out of Illinois at 2:00 pm on December 28th.