February 14th, 2009
Box Score
(Photo of Jonathan Hutton by Drew Engelke)
AUSTIN – The Concordia Texas Tornados hurt Texas Lutheran’s American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament aspirations with a 102-92 win over the Bulldogs on Saturday.
In the Concordia Texas Fieldhouse, the Tornados put six players in double figures and shot 50.7 percent from the field for the game.
The Tornados rushed out to a 53-34 halftime lead and held off TLU’s second-half rally. The Bulldogs out-scored the Tornados 58-49 and closed within 12 with 9:47 to play in the game.
But the Tornados pushed the lead back to 24 over the next four minutes and essentially ended the Bulldogs’ bid for a road win.
TLU dropped to 6-16 overall and to 6-13 in the ASC West Division. Concordia Texas moved to 9-14 overall and to 8-11 in the ASC West.
Jonathan Hutton (Austin/Lake Travis) and Isaac Williams (San Antonio/Wagner) led TLU in scoring with 18 and 17 points, respectively.
TLU’s Brad Howard (Houston/Cypress Creek) added 16 points, eight rebounds and four steals.
The Bulldogs now trail Concordia Texas and Sul Ross State (8-14, 8-11 ASC) by two games in the ASC Standings for the final two playoff spots in the ASC West Division.
TLU must win its two final regular season games, at home Thursday against McMurry and at home Saturday against Hardin-Simmons, to have a chance at finishing at least fourth in the ASC West. The top four teams in the division advance to the conference tournament.
The Bulldogs currently are tied for fifth in the ASC West with Schreiner, Howard Payne and Hardin-Simmons.