Texas Lutheran Holds on Late, Slips Past Schreiner

SEGUIN, TX -- Xavier Phillips (Dripping Springs/Dripping Springs) - in his first game back from injury - scored 12 of his 20 points after halftime, Cameron Fontenot (Katy/Second Baptist School) added 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds to help Texas Lutheran top Schreiner on Tuesday night to secure a win in the conference opener.

Schreiner nearly erased what had been a 12-point Texas Lutheran lead, but the Bulldogs never faltered and closed out strong at the free throw line to secure the victory and end their early season losing streak.

Playing for the first time in eight days, the Bulldogs (2-5, 1-0 SCAC) went back and forth with the Mountaineers (2-7, 0-2 SCAC) in a game that featured eight ties and eight lead changes. The Bulldogs trailed for a majority of the first half before taking the lead 29-27 and close the half with a 31-29 lead thanks to a 9-2 lead spearheaded by Jamir Mason (Pearland/St. Thomas Episcopal).

While the Bulldogs struggles from the field continued, they were the beneficiary of timely shooting from the free throw line - shooting 13-15 (86.7%) from the charity stripe - helping the Bulldogs hold on to their lead over the Mountaineers down the stretch.

Seniors Sebastian Andrade (El Paso/Americas) and Cameron Fontenot sparked an early second half run that ultimately decided the game as the Bulldogs would open the second half on a 14-2 run to completely flip the momentum in the Bulldogs' favor. The Mountaineers would shrink the Bulldogs lead over the course of the second half but three critical free throws from Xavier Phillips over the course of two trips to the free throw line to seal the victory.

The Bulldogs played aggressively on the defensive end forcing 18 Mountaineers turnovers that turned into 25 Bulldogs points.

The Bulldogs now have ten days off as the semester comes to a close before hosting St. Thomas (TX) in SCAC action on December 17. Tip-off is set for 5:30 PM. All streaming and stat links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.