GEORGETOWN, Texas — The Southwestern men's basketball team showed resiliency, digging out of a double-digit first-half deficit but couldn't complete the comeback, losing 84-79 to the Concordia Tornados.
After spending most of the second half climbing back into the game, pulling to within one at 76-75 on a three-point play by Kyle Poerschke with 1:21 remaining, Southwestern finally appeared to have Concordia in retreat.
A solid Southwestern defensive possession and deflection put Concordia on the wrong side of the court with five seconds remaining on the shot clock, but reserve Cameron Jones tracked the ball down, sprinted the length of the court, and hit a deep pull-up 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to put Concordia back up 79-75.
Southwestern opened the game struggling to take care of the ball, committing 12 turnovers in the first half, including nine Concordia steals leading to eight fast-break points. The Pirates' struggles were compounded by a 10-for-27 first-half shooting percentage and an inability to stop Alexander Estrada, who scored 12 first-half points on 4-for-5 shooting from the 3-point line.
Poerschke and reserve guard Preston Hannah kept the Pirates within striking distance, combining for half of Southwestern's 36 first-half points. Hannah came off the bench in the first three minutes of the game and immediately went to work, assisting on 3-pointers to Poerschke and Josh Jones. He also hit Poerschke later in the half for a 3-pointer, scoring seven points and dishing out three assists in 15 first-half minutes, keeping the Pirates to within 45-36 at the half.
Southwestern opened the second half on a mission, opening with back-to-back layups from Poerschke and Brock Luechtefeld, followed by a Poerschke 3-pointer to score the first seven points of the half.
Poerschke was on fire after the break, scoring at all three levels with 22 points on 9-for-11 shooting, including 3-for-4 from long range to score a career-high 33 points on 13-for-18 shooting with seven rebounds.
Concordia countered with efficient second-half performances from Antoine Henderson and reserve guard Trevon Hester, who combined for 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting to keep the Pirates at Bay.
Southwestern made one more run after Jones's deep 3-pointer, pulling back within two on a four-point play on a made 3-pointer and free throw by Leo Toussaint off an assist by Hannah with 15 seconds remaining. But the Pirates failed to take advantage of a steal on the ensuing possession while Concordia sealed the game with free throws.
The Pirates drop to 2-5 with the loss. Southwestern will travel to San Antonio next weekend to participate in the Trinity Thanksgiving Classic with a Friday game against Carleton and Saturday against Birmingham-Southern.