February 5th, 2009
Box Score
(Photo of Brad Howard by Tim Clark)
ALPINE, Texas – The Texas Lutheran Bulldogs rallied to take a second-half lead but surrendered late free throws to Sul Ross State in an 81-74 loss to the Lobos at the Gallego Center in Alpine, Texas.
TLU dropped to 5-14 overall and to 5-11 in the American Southwest Conference. Sul Ross improved to 5-14 overall and to 5-11 in the ASC.
TLU trailed by eight at the break (and by as many as 16 in the first half) but took its first lead of the game at the 16:41 mark of the second half on a Nate Walton (Houston/Westside) jumper.
The game featured eight ties down the stretch. The Bulldogs achieved their largest lead of the game, two, on two occasions. Michael Flores (Spring/Klein Collins) and Isaac Williams (San Antonio/Wagner) each scored to give TLU its leads.
In the closing moments, Sul Ross State’s trips to foul line made the difference. For the entire game, the Lobos went to the free throw line 43 times to TLU’s 18. The Lobos shot 32 second-half free throws to TLU’s 10.
Brad Howard (Houston/Cypress Creek) scored a season-high 23 for the Bulldogs. Howard made 10 of his 14 field goal attempts and all three of his three-point shots. He also grabbed four rebounds.
Jonathan Hutton (Austin/Lake Travis) added 13 points and two steals. Josh Scott (The Woodlands/The Woodlands) collected a team-best eight rebounds and scored eight points.
Filiberto Torres and Henry Flores led Sul Ross with 19 and 17 points, respectively. Torres grabbed nine rebounds, and Flores added six boards.
The Bulldogs now travel to Brownwood for Saturday’s 3 p.m. conference game with Howard Payne.