BOX SCORE

Austin, Texas – Kenny Williams contributed 11 points and seven assists and Darius Anderson matched a career high for scoring, but the Concordia University Texas men's basketball team suffered a 112-101 loss to East Texas Baptist in the American Southwest Conference opener for both schools on Saturday, Nov. 26 at Concordia Field House. The Tornados attempted to rally from 29 points down before falling just short.

Concordia (0-2) scored on its first two possessions to take a 4-0 lead, as Nick Haynes made a 3-pointer and Donald Lee converted one of two free throws. But the visitors responded with seven unanswered to go ahead by three at the 18:29 mark to begin a seesaw battle in a half that featured four ties and seven lead changes.

East Texas Baptist, however, would take over and never look back when RJ Prince drilled a trifecta to break a 20-all deadlock shortly before the midway point of the frame. Jeremy LaGarde's good jumper with 6:32 on the clock gave the Tigers a double-digit lead for the first time before Concordia's Donteé Kinney created the 50-40 halftime score by making a free throw.

Two shots by Lee from the charity stripe to start the second half trimmed the deficit to single digits, but East Texas Baptist responded in a big way by allowing the Tornados to make just two field goals in the opening seven minutes. A pair of Prince free throws made it a 20-point game at the 13:30 mark before the advantage ballooned to 29 points at 89-60 with 8:36 left on a jumper by J.D. Richardson.

Concordia did not give up and sliced away at the large deficit by netting 15 straight points, which was capped by a Henry Riasco trey set up by Williams. Anderson created only a five-point margin at 97-92 with a little over two minutes remaining by converting a 3-point play the old-fashioned way and driving in for a layup.

East Texas Baptist (1-1), however, got hot from the line and scored seven in a row to put the game out of reach. A layup and free throw by Drew Webb sealed the final outcome.

In addition to accumulating 11 points and seven helpers, Williams added two steals and only committed one turnover to lead the Tornados. Anderson scored 23 points off the bench, matching a career high, while Riasco, Haynes and Chris McDermott also finished in double figures. Darien Harris and Josh Johnson posted team highs with 11 boards and three blocked shots, respectively.

East Texas Baptist was led by Prince and Jaron Joseph, who scored 24 and 23 points, respectively. Mack Dunbar fell just shy of a double-double with a 14-point, nine-board effort off the bench. Monty Grays had 16 points to go along with three assists and a game-high three steals in a reserve role.

Concordia will battle Centenary in a non-conference contest at Concordia Fieldhouse on Monday, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m.