(Portions of this story courtesy of Texas Lutheran
University)
IRVING, Texas - A year removed from a last-place
finish in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, the Texas
Lutheran University Bulldogs will play for an SCAC Men's Basketball
Championship and an NCAA Division III tournament
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Recap | Photo Gallery
TLU (17-9) quieted a capacity University of Dallas
crowd of 812 at the Maher Athletic Center and downed the tournament
host 82-65 Saturday evening to advance to Sunday's 2:30 p.m.
championship game.
The Bulldogs, the tournament's top seed, will face No. 2 seed
Centenary College, which defeated Southwestern University 87-80 in
Saturday's second semifinal.
The co-regular season champion along with Centenary, Texas
Lutheran led for the final 32 minutes against Dallas and opened up
a 23-point lead with 11:23 remaining in the game.
TLU led 41-33 before a 19-4 run moved the lead to 60-37. In that
19-4 burst, the Bulldogs hit three three-pointers and had a Harris
Jowell dunk off an inbounds play.
Smith received a near triple-double performance from his sophomore
point guard. Holmes scored a game-high 21, collected nine rebounds
and dished out seven assists.
Holmes hit all three of his three-point attempts and went 8-for-9
from the free throw line.
The Bulldogs made 10 of 18 total three-point shots. TLU went
5-for-9 in each half from distance.
Sophomore shooting guard Jordan Kouremetis added 14 points
and five rebounds. He made three three-pointers.
Senior forward Donte McGee just missed a double-double. McGee
scored 10 and grabbed nine rebounds. He hit a pair of threes.
TLU made 13 of its final 21 shots (61.9 percent) and finished at
54.3 percent shooting for the game.
The Bulldogs held Dallas (18-9) to 34.5 percent shooting in the
first half and 35.3 percent in the second half. The Crusaders were
6-of-28 from the three-point line.
University of Dallas senior guard Kym Malone led the Crusaders
with 18 points and three rebounds while senior forward Aaron Wyatt
finished with 16 points. Sophomore guard Lorenzo Gonzalez came off
the bench to score 11 points.
Dallas ends the 2014-15 campaign with a 17-9 mark, tying a school
record for wins in a single season.