AUSTIN, Texas – Joe Neal scored a team-high 25 points and grabbed six rebounds, but the Concordia Texas men's basketball team's second half comeback fell short, falling 97-87 to UT Tyler on Saturday.

The Tornados would face a 15-point deficit early in the second half after a Patriot three-pointer made it 62-47.

Concordia Texas would slowly chip away though and cut it to four with under nine minutes to play after Christian Hammett knocked down his first three of the game.

Neal would score 10 of his 25 points in the second half to lead the Tornados' charge, and the team trailed by six after Maluw Deng's jumper with 4:08 to go.

UT Tyler would not break though as they pushed their lead back to double digits late and went on to take the game 97-87.

Philip Meikle scored in double figures for the fourth time in his last five games, finishing with 14 points, while Spencer Bone had an efficient performance off the bench, scoring eight points on four shots, knocking down a pair from outside the arc.

Concordia Texas will have a quick turnaround as they return to the court on Monday to host Ozarks at 3 p.m. inside Concordia Fieldhouse.