BOX SCORE

Austin, Texas – Kenny Williams and Collin Perkins contributed 12 points apiece off the bench in leading the Concordia men's basketball team to a 69-65 win over Texas-Tyler in an American Southwest Conference game on Thursday, Dec. 2 at the Concordia Field House. The Tornados, who led from wire-to-wire, built up a 17-point lead in the first half and held off a fierce rally by the Patriots to remain unbeaten at home this season.

Concordia scored the first four points of the game and was clinging to a 17-14 lead with 9:36 on the clock before Kenny Williams scored eight straight, which included a conventional three-point play, to give his team a 25-14 advantage. The lead grew to as many as 17 before the half courtesy of two free throws by Josh Johnson.

The Tornados, who held a 42-31 lead at halftime thanks to a buzzer-beating layup by Tayler Jacobs, were challenged in the second half by a relentless Patriot squad. Brandon Levine and Spencer Denmon each made field goals to bring the visitors within six before the midway point, and the squad made it a one-possession game at 60-57 on a Michael Johnson trifecta with 5:03 left. However, Jacobs drove in for a layup and Nick Haynes hit a shot from long range to put the game out of reach.

“Texas-Tyler played really hard, and I thought they particularly played better than us in the second half,” said head coach Stan Bonewitz. “They played a lot harder and a lot better as a team than we did, but we got some stops when we needed them and were fortunate to have some guys make plays down the stretch.”

Perkins recorded sixth blocks in addition to scoring 12 points, while Williams was hot at the free throw line and got eight of his 12 points at the charity stripe to lead Concordia. Nick Haynes added 10 points and Darien Harris registered eight points and 12 rebounds, falling just short of a double-double for the third straight game.

Concordia (2-2, ASC 1-1) will look to remain unbeaten at home when it hosts LeTourneau on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 3 p.m.