BOX SCORE

Alpine, Texas – Dwayne Patterson finished with 19 points and eight rebounds to lead the Concordia University Texas men's basketball team to an 84-79 win over Sul Ross State on Saturday, Jan. 26 at the Gallego Center. With the victory, the Tornados punched their ticket to the American Southwest Conference Tournament for the sixth time in seven years.

The beginning of the game was tightly contested until Ryan Hagan broke a 9-9 tie that sparked a 9-2 run for the Lobos.  But after a Zakk Ravelle jumper made it 18-11, the Tornados stormed back and scored 29 of the frame's remaining 34 points between the teams. Darien Harris drove in for a layup to put the Tornados ahead before Terry Corprew extended the lead to double figures at 33-23 with just over two minutes to play. Larry Durand canned a jumper in the waning seconds, as the Tornados led 41-23 at the recess.

Sul Ross State (4-15, ASC 3-10) made several attempts to rally, but the host school was never able to catch the Tornados in the second half. After Josh Sanchez made a layup to give Concordia a 53-35 cushion, the Lobos started to fight back and came within single digits when Revelle sank a jumper to make it 57-48 at the 11:09 mark. Revelle slashed the lead down to three and made it a single-possession game at 74-71 by making a jump shot with just over four minutes left, but Patterson scored on the other end during the Tornados' next possession to keep the Lobos at bay. Patterson iced the victory by putting back a missed Brett DeMetrotion free throw in the final minute.

Patterson shot over 50 percent from the field and scored 12 of his team-leading 18 points in the second half for Concordia, which has made all of its ASC Tournament appearances under current head coach Stan Bonewitz. DeMetrotion recorded six points and a career-best 10 boards, while Sanchez and Nick Haynes netted 16 and 14 points, respectively.

Hagan paced Sul Ross State with a game-high 22 points. He also had eight rebounds and three steals. Mychal Pinson posted 11 points and five assists, and Revelle contributed 12 points and four assists.

Concordia (15-4, ASC 10-3) will battle rival Mary Hardin-Baylor on Tuesday, Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m.