SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Leo Toussaint scored 13 of his career-best 19 points in the second half as the Southwestern University men's basketball team (4-8) attempted to rally from a big first half deficit but the Pirates would ultimately fall 82-72.
The Pointers (8-4) were led by Jake Buchanan, who also tallied a career-best with 33 pointers in his second season with the Pointers after having played for Rockhurst University, an NCAA Division II school, for his first two years.
UW-Stevens Point came out firing on all cylinders and were loving the shooter-friendly rims at the Bell Center during Trinity University's Leslie Robinson Christmas Classic as the Pointers jumped out to a quick 23-5 lead.
Buchanan and A.J. Makinen were hot from the start garnering 21 of their team's first 23 points with all 21 coming from beyond the arc.
After a made jumper gave the Pointers a 35-13 lead with 8:07 left in the opening half, the Pirates would finally come alive on both sides of the court starting with holding UW-Stevens Point scoreless over next 3:50 and going on a 15-0 run of their own to cut the deficit down to just seven with 4:42 to go before halftime.
When the buzzer for the end of the first half sounded, Southwestern would eventually find itself down 49-32 thanks to the Pointers shooting the exact same for threes as they did inside the arc going 9-for-15 from each.
Southwestern was able to stay in the game with its free throw shooting as the Pirates used 12 first half fouls from the Pointers to convert into 14 0 14-of-20 from the charity stripe.
Preston Hannah led the Pirates in scoring during the first half while Shobby Enakpene and Toussaint chipping in eight each.
The second half may not have been the best of halves with the Pirates trailing by as many as 16 on a couple of different occasions, but Southwestern battled back to within seven points twice late in the game thanks to the play of Toussaint and Luke Hatcher who combined for 27 of the team's 40 second half points.
The duo of Toussaint and Hatcher went 7-for-12 from the field, 2-for-6 from long range and 11-of-15 from the charity stripe for their 27 second half points to go along with eight rebounds while their teammates went 4-for-15 from the field, 1-for-4 from three and 4-for-10 from the free throw line with 13 rebounds.
UP NEXT
Southwestern will return to action following the holiday break when the Howard Payne University Yellow Jackets look to swarm the Robertson Center on Friday, Dec. 30 at 5 p.m. CST to conclude the non-conference portion of the schedule. The two squads faced off earlier this season in Brownwood with the Pirates coming away with a 76-63 victory.
