Crusaders Come Up Just Short vs. St. Thomas in SCAC Opener
IRVING, Texas - The University of Dallas men's basketball team battle-tested the undefeated Celts of the University of St. Thomas (TX) all the way to the end, but fell 79-74 in the first Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) game of the season. Michael Wambsganss (Denver, Colo.) led the Crusaders with a season-high 24 points, draining seven three-pointers on the evening. Dallas (4-3, 0-1 SCAC) held UST to its lowest scoring total in coutable games this season, as the Celts came in averaging 100.0 points-per-game. St. Thomas (7-0, 1-0 SCAC) scored 25 points off of 20 UD turnovers and gained 29 points from the bench to escape with the win.
The Celts jumped out to an early 6-1 lead. Isaiah Hayes (Arlington, Texas) hit a big three pointer to get Dallas back in the groove. The Celts would extend its lead to 11-4, but Letrell Toussaint (Waco, Texas) hit a big bucket after he battled for the rebound in the paint to spark the Crusaders offense once again. Toussaint grinded out some tough points as UD narrowed the margin to just two points (15-13) at the 13:22 mark.
UST pushed its lead to nine with a 9-2 run midway through the half. The Celts eventually gathered a 30-18 lead. Wambsganns hit a key three-pointer to give Dallas life. Cameran Hyde (Missouri City, Okla.) added a bucket a series later to make it a 30-23 game. UST took advantage of some turnovers and converted points off these mishaps. Wambsganns hit two more three-pointers as time winded down as UST took a 10-point lead (42-32) into halftime. Kennard Robinson led the Celts with nine points at the break. Wambsganss equaled Robinson with nine points of his own to lead Dallas. Toussaint had seven points and five rebounds.
Dallas came out fired up in the second half roaring out to a 10-0 run with two big treys from Wambsganss to tie up the game for the first time since it was 0-0. Both teams traded buckets as the game was once again tied at 49. Hyde then hit a three-pointer to give Dallas its first lead in the contest at the 9:37 mark. UST followed up with a 6-0 run to gain back the momentum. Dallas hung around most of the half and kept it within five to seven points. With just under four minutes left to play, UD picked up some ground as Toussaint and Wambsganss cut the lead to three. The Celts went up five again, but Wambsganns kept his hot shooting going to keep UD in it with under a minute to play. With 1:17 to go it was a one point game (73-72). The Celts made six free throws at the end of the game to escape with the 79-74 victory. UD shot 13-15 (86.7%) from the charity stripe and 24-61 (39.3% from the field.
Wambsganss led Dallas with 24 points. Toussaint added his second career double-double matching his career-best of 14 points and grabbing a personal-best 13 rebounds from a season ago at University of the Ozarks (11/20/19). Hyde finished with 13 points with three treys in the contest. Dallas dished out 15 assists in the game and outrebounded UST 36-25, while making 13 three-pointers on the night.
The Celts were paced by Kennard Robinson who notched 25 points. Joshua Sanchez and Freddie Ricks III both had big nights with 14 and 13 points, respectively. UST made 15 of its 18 shots at the free throw line and gathered a 30-55 (54.5%) mark from the field.
UP NEXT
Dallas will host Centenary College tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.