The SU men's basketball team scored 82 points, the Pirates' highest point total of the year, in a solid 82-72 victory over the Carthage College Redmen at the Southwestern/Trinity Classic on Tuesday (Dec. 18) in Georgetown, TX.
The Pirates quickly fell in to a 13-4 hole and trailed by as many as 12 in the first half. SU rallied and managed to tie the game 29-29 on a Matt Caplan (Houston, TX/University of Kansas) three-pointer with 4:20 to play in the half. Mike Powell (Houston, TX/Episcopal HS) scored seven points in the final 3:05 of the half to put the Pirates ahead 41-34 at halftime.
Southwestern held its lead for much of the second half and even led by 12 with 10:44 to go in the game. Carthage climbed back in to the game and used a 9-0 run to take a 65-63 lead with less than 4:30 left. The Pirates then outscored the Redmen 16-2 and owned an insurmountable 12 point lead with one minute on the clock.
Powell and caplan combined to score 40 points for the Pirates with 22 and 18, respectively. Caplan also had seven rebounds and was 4-7 from three-point range. Powell was 5-8 from the floor and 11-12 from the free throw line while also dishing out three assists.
Sophomore Ross Hayes (Houston, TX/Clements HS) posted nine points and five boards. Senior guard Ben Schleif (San Antonio, TX/Reagan HS) also had five rebounds as well as seven points.
The Pirates out-rebounded Carthage 37-28 and shot 50 percent (23-46) from the field. SU was 8-20 (40 percent) from three-point range and 73.7 percent (28-38 from the free throw line. Carthage held a 14-18 advantage in the turnover category.
Southwestern now owns a 5-3 record and is 4-0 in games played at the Robertson Center. Carthage falls to 5-5 on the year.
The Pirates will be off until the end of the month when they play two games at the Trinity/Southwestern Classic in San Antonio, TX on Dec. 29-30.
