Phillips Reaches 1,000 Points, Second Half Outburst Not Enough as Bulldogs Fall to #RV St. Thomas

SEGUIN, Texas -- Despite cutting #RV St. Thomas's lead to as low as five points in the final five and a half minutes, Texas Lutheran dropped their Friday night contest to the Celts, 83-71, at Memorial Gymnasium.

Texas Lutheran (3-9, 1-2 SCAC) was led by Xavier Phillips (Austin/Dripping Springs), who had 20 points that all came in the second half. At the 15:53 mark in the second half, Phillips reached a career milestone, becoming the 37th member of Texas Lutheran's 1,000 point club. Phillips is the first Bulldog to reach the 1,000 point mark since former teammate Sebastian Andrade (2017-22) who finished his career with 1,509 points. Phillips finished 7-of-12 from the field and added five rebounds and five assists in just his fourth game back from injury.

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Welcome to the 1️⃣,0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ point club @ohgodxavier ❌#TooLiveU | #PupsUp pic.twitter.com/rI2mIrh7Sm

— TLU Men's Basketball (@TLUbasketball) January 11, 2025

Semaj Edwards (Lanham, MD/Oak Hill) joined Phillips in double figures with 16 points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Sophomore forwards Teddy Tapken (Austin/Lake Travis) and Kevin Juarez (Pasadena/Pasadena) finished with eight points each.

After a 7-2 deficit to start the first half, the Bulldogs fought throughout the half to tie the game 22-all with just under seven minutes left in the half. The Celts closed the half on a 15-2 run to take 37-24 advantage into the break.

St. Thomas's largest cushion would come at the end of the game as the second half would be nip and tuck as the two teams battled through a foul littered twenty minutes of basketball. The two teams would combine for 34 fouls and 49 free throws in the second half. After trailing by double digits entering the break, the Bulldogs gradually chipped away at the Celts lead as a 15-4 to start the second half cut the Celts lead to two with 14:14 remaining. The Celts would respond with a 12-4 lead to return the lead to double digits. The Bulldogs would never come closer than that two point margin at the 14:14 margin as the Celts won the rebound battle 19-11 and shot 87.1 percent from the line (27-31) in the half.

The Bulldogs are back in action on Sunday, January 12, when they host Colorado College. Tip-off is set for 2 PM. The game will be streamed on TLU+. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.