The SU men's basketball team reached its highest point total in SCAC play on Saturday (Jan. 19) night in Georgetown, TX as the Pirates downed Rhodes College 80-71.
The Lynx scored the first eight points for their largest lead of the game but Southwestern went on a 18-9 run, capped by three three-pointers from sophomore Zach Bergstrom (La Vernia, TX/La Vernia HS) to lead by one with 13:26 on the clock. The lead changed hands multiple times with the Pirates leading by as many as six in the first half but Rhodes pulled ahead late in the half and took a 39-35 lead in to the half.
In the second half, the Pirates regained the lead for good on a three-pointer from sophomore Anthony Cox (Flower Mound, TX/Flower Mound HS) at the 16:29 mark. SU's largest lead of the game was 12 and the last time the Bucs led by that margin was with 20 seconds left in the game.
Bergstrom totaled a career-high 24 points, his previous high was 12, on 7-12 shooting from the field. He was also 4-9 from beyond the three-point arc and 6-7 from the free throw line while pulling down five rebounds. Cox recorded a season-high 16 and tied a career-high with five rebounds. He drained 4-6 field goals and 7-7 free throws while dishing out three assists and recording three steals.
Senior Goran Stojcic (Houston, TX/Stratford HS) led the team with seven rebounds and also added 12 points. First-year Jonathan Brown (Houston, TX/Jersey Village HS) had six rebounds and three blocks for a new career-high.
The Pirates are now 6-0 at home on the season and have now improved to 69-31 over the last nine seasons, including the current one. For the season, Southwestern is 7-8 and 3-3 in the conference while Rhodes falls to 6-10, 1-5.
SU travels to Sewanee, TN for a SCAC game at Sewanee on Friday (Jan. 25) at 8:00 pm and then to Atlanta, GA for a game at Oglethorpe University on Saturday (Jan. 26) at 8:00 pm.
