THE RUNDOWN
BROWNWOOD, Texas – Despite a furious second-half run by Howard Payne, the Concordia University Texas men's basketball team picked up a 91-83 victory on Saturday at Brownwood Coliseum.
The Tornados (13-4, 10-4 ASC) built a 19-point lead in the first half and led 49-37 at halftime.
In the second half, the Yellow Jackets (4-13, 4-10 ASC) used an 18-2 run to take a 59-57 lead with 12:49 to play.
The contest went back-and-forth for the next five minutes until Concordia Texas took the lead for good on a layup by
Dwayne Patterson. The Long Beach, Calif., native also knocked down a free throw to complete the traditional three-point play and give CTX a 73-70 advantage.
Clay Marley and
Rashad Coleman then hit back-to-back layups to push the advantage to seven.
Howard Payne was able to get within three points (79-76) with 3:33 to go, but
Jared Galvan and Coleman combined to fuel a 5-0 run. Concordia scored seven of the final 13 tallies to clinch the victory.
Galvan put in a season-high 15 points in 25 minutes of action off the bench to pace the Tornados. Coleman netted a season-best nine points and
Clay Marley scored seven points, grabbed five boards and blocked a shot in a dozen second-half minutes.
Overall, Concordia's bench combined to score 34 points (Galvan 15/Coleman 9/Marley 7/Walker 3), including 20 in the final frame.
The Tornados' starting lineup was riddled with foul trouble throughout the game.
Josh Sanchez scored 14 points before fouling out with 10 minutes to go, while Patterson added 12 and a game-high seven assists in only 22 minutes.
Andre Potts (14 points) and
Adam Whitlock (10) also reached double figures.
Brandon Gould led the Yellow Jackets with a game-high 19 points, 10 of which came at the free-throw line.
HIGHLIGHTS
• The Tornados shot 67.9 percent (19-of-28) in the first half.
• Concordia has had at least one player reach double figures in the opening 20 minutes for the eighth consecutive game.
Andre Potts scored 11 in the opening frame on Saturday.
•
Jared Galvan nearly tied his career high of 16 points by scoring 15 off the bench on Saturday.
•
Gavyn Walker hit his first 3-pointer on Saturday. The Tornados now have nine players who have drained a shot from beyond the arc this season.
• The Tornados improved to 7-3 on the road this season.
WHAT'S NEXT
Concordia will return home to host Mississippi College on Thursday, Jan. 30. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Concordia Fieldhouse.
