GEORGETOWN, Texas — Southwestern men's basketball opened conference play with one of its best defensive performances of the season, grinding out a 58-50 victory over the Colorado College Tigers. 

Kyle Poerschke had three of Southwestern's seven blocks and Brock Luechtefeld controlled the glass with 13 rebounds to help the Pirates limit Colorado College to the lowest shooting percentage of any Southwestern opponent this season at 29.7 percent. 

Southwestern wasn't much more efficient, shooting 16-for-52 percent from the field (30.8 percent), but made up for it by getting to the free-throw line 25 times, making 20, to outscore Colorado College by 14 from the charity stripe. 

Chris Smith, Jr. matched his career-high with 17 points to lead three Pirates in double figures. Smith shot 4-for-11 from the field, including three big 3-pointers, and nailed all six of his free-throw attempts and contributed eight rebounds. 

Poerschke struggled from the field, hitting just 3-for-9, but made 7-of-9 free throws to finish with 15 points. Luechtefeld posted his first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. 

Colorado College's Scott Ruegg scored 10 points but needed 12 shots to do it. Scott Cunningham was the Tigers' second-leading scorer with eight points on 3-for-14 shooting. 

Southwestern improves to 4-6 with the win, including 1-0 in conference play. With Saturday's game against St. Thomas postponed, Southwestern will return to action on Friday, Dec. 31, on the road against Centenary.