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Men's Hoops Falls to Ozarks

Men's Hoops Falls to Ozarks

SHERMAN, Texas - The Austin College men's basketball team dropped a 74-66 non-conference game to the University of the Ozarks on Saturday afternoon, as the 'Roos shot just 37.5% from the field while the Eagles knocked down 51.3% of their attempts in the game. The 'Roos are now 3-3 overall on the year.

Ozarks jumped out to a 6-2 lead early on and pushed it to an 11-6 margin with just under 13 minutes to go in the opening half as Austin College struggled to get things going offensively. Justice Mercadel scored four of the next six points for the 'Roos as they cut it to a 13-12 game, but the Eagles countered with a 9-0 run to go on top 22-12 with 8:46 left before halftime.

Austin College managed to get the margin down to three points twice over the next few minutes, the second time with Jake Patin's free throws cutting it to 24-21 with under five minutes on the clock, but Ozarks pushed the lead to 32-23 with 3:05 left. The Eagles extended their cushion to 38-26 before Devin Roland's three beat the buzzer to make it 38-29 at the break.

The 'Roos cut it to a 41-35 game on a jumper by Luke Brumbaugh with 17:41 left in the game, but a 7-2 run gave the Ozarks a 48-37 lead just over two minutes later. Austin College refused to go away, though, and Michael Holland's triple with 10:21 left made it a 54-48 game. However, Ozarks responded with a 9-0 run to make it 63-48 with eight minutes on the clock.

Austin College cut it to 10 with 5:08 left, but the 'Roos would be unable to get the deficit back to single digits until Holland's basket made it 73-64 with 16 seconds to play. Roland led Austin College with 15 points and added four rebounds and three assists, and Mercadel chipped in 14 points. Holland finished with 13 points and nine boards.

Zach Bobo led Ozarks with 18 points and Jacobe Davis added 14 as the Eagles out-scored the 'Roos 29-to-14 from the free throw line and shot 41.7% from three, compared to 25% for Austin College.

The 'Roos are home again on Monday when they take on LeTourneau with tip-time set for 3:00 p.m.