ALPINE, Texas - The Concordia men's basketball team led for all of 15 seconds as they cruised to a 82-69 win over Sul Ross State on Thursday night.

The Tornados shoot 54.4 percent from the field as five players scored in double figures. Joe Neal was 6-7 from the field for a team-high 16 points and six rebounds, while Philip Meikle tied his career-high with 15 points. The Lobos committed 14 turnovers leading to 14 points for CTX, and outscored SRSU's bench 37-21.

The Tornados took an early 12-9 lead after a Neal free-throw with 14:52 left. It continued to be a back-and-forth half as both team exchanged the lead. Tied at 20 with 9:31, CTX went on a 24-10 run, including five points by Ben Page, who had 12 points in 16 minutes, and took a 44-30 lead at the half.  Neal led the Tornados with 10 points, while Meikle had nine of his own. CTX doubled up the Lobos in the paint outscoring them 24-12 in the first half and had 21 points off the bench.

In the second half, CTX began to pull away, taking their largest lead of the game with 13:47 leading 61-41 after a layup by Rashad Coleman, who had 13 points for the game. SRSU made a late rally, cutting the lead to 74-66 after a three-pointer with 2:39 remaining. But the Tornados would not be denied as they went 8-8 from the free-throw line including four by Ephriam Price, who had 12 points for the game, defeating the Lobos 82-69.

CTX next travels to Brownwood, Texas to face Howard Payne on Saturday at 3 p.m.