Men’s basketball upset in first round

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The University of Dallas basketball team came up short in their championship run as they were knocked out in the first round of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) by sixth-seed Texas Lutheran University (TLU), 91-76. The Crusaders went into the playoff match with little momentum after losing in Colorado last week to conclude the regular season.

The game began with the Crusaders in front 17-13 nine minutes into the first-half, but after a minute, TLU went up by three and did not look back. This was similar to the game against Colorado last week where the Crusaders also fell behind early and spent the rest of the game trying to catch up.

Darrius Colvin said that the team “came out pretty sluggish as a unit,” and that “it didn’t help that [they] were the only team that drove 13 hours to Colorado.”

The Crusaders came close to going up against the Bulldogs when Colvin tied the game at 55 with a dunk, but a 3-point shot by TLU followed by a timeout killed all the momentum the Crusaders had going for them. Soon after the timeout, TLU converted a free-throw and that would be the last tie of the game.

One of the standout performers for the Crusaders was Colvin who finished the game with a full stat line consisting of 18 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, and only 2 turnovers. Colvin finished the season with a career-high 97 assists.

The Crusaders seemed to struggle in their efficiency from the field, as they shot just 39.1 percent.

From a statistical perspective one might think that the Crusaders struggled to defend TLU’s outside shooting, as they made 14 of their 30 attempts from beyond the arc, but according to Coach Samples that was not the case.

Samples stated that the Crusaders “just could not overcome TLU’s outside shooting. After we tied the game, they went 6-8 from the three-point line. They ended up shooting 14-30 from three. I thought we contested their shots, but they just made them. You have to tip your hat to them for that type of shooting.”

Looking forward, Samples said he is excited for next season as all the Crusaders will return, except for senior Emmanuel Calton.

“[The team] will miss his leadership, but I think he was able to show our young guys what it takes to win,” Samples said.“We are going to work hard in the off season to improve our skill level and strength, so we can continue to build on the success from this year. UD Basketball’s future is bright.”

**To hear more about the game, check out the Crux de Athletica podcast where Kevin McGuirk and Rory MacCallum discuss the game and more  https://archive.org/details/AroundWithBattlecrier05**

 

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