AUSTIN, Texas – Anthony Gaines Jr. scored 37 points and guided Louisiana College to a 115-111 victory over the Concordia University Texas men's basketball team on Saturday at Concordia Fieldhouse.
The Tornados (3-5, 0-4 ASC), who dropped their fourth consecutive contest, shot 54.8 percent (40-of-73) from the field. However, the Wildcats (3-3, 3-1 ASC) connected on 57.9 percent (33-of-57) of their shots from the field. Louisiana College also hit 45-of-55 free throw attempts.
Four Concordia Texas players reached double digits, led by
Rashad Coleman's 26 points.
Josh Sanchez and
Andre Potts each netted 20 points, while
Donovan Ford chipped in with 11 off the bench.
The American Southwest Conference contest featured 22 ties and 24 lead changes.
Kevin Cottonham hit a pair of free throws to give the Wildcats a 98-96 lead with 3:28 to play. It marked the last lead change of the contest.
Louisiana College increased its advantage to 108-101 after a dunk by Kevin Lewis with 37 seconds remaining. Coleman scored the next five points for CTX, including a 3-pointer that trimmed the lead to three with 21 seconds left. After a pair of free throws by Lewis and an uncontested layup by Sanchez, Gaines Jr. hit two more shots from the charity stripe to give the Wildcats a 113-108 lead with only seven seconds left on the clock. Sanchez then pushed the ball up the court and found Potts who drilled a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to two points. However, Cottonham put the game out of reach with two free throws in the final second.
The Tornados will resume play on Monday, Dec. 29 against Skidmore. The non-conference game will tip off at 7 p.m. at Concordia Fieldhouse.
POSTGAME NOTES• Concordia held a six-point lead with 18:32 left in the game.
• The Tornados outscored the Wildcats in the paint, 54-48.
• Concordia hit 21-of-25 attempts (84 percent) from the free-throw line.
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Terry Corprew dished out a game-high six assists for CTX.