PLAINVIEW, Texas â€" A made free throw by Aaron Espinosa with eight seconds left was the difference as the Texas Lutheran men's basketball team lost 65-64 to Dallas Christian on Friday night inside Hutcherson Center in the first game of the Wayland Baptist Holiday Classic.
 
The Bulldogs were down 64-60 with just 51 seconds left but battled back to tie the game up after Joseph Richardson made one-of-two free throws. After the Espinoza free throw gave the Crusaders the lead again, Garrett Wilkins missed a 3-pointer and Jordan Kouremetis missed a jumper at the buzzer that would have given the Bulldogs the win.
 
With the loss, Texas Lutheran falls to 5-4 on the year while Dallas Christian improved to 2-11.
 
Wilkins (Austin, Texas) led the Bulldogs with 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting. The junior guard made 5-of-10 free throws and also finished with seven rebounds to go along with three steals and an assist.
 
Robert Watson Jr. (Corpus Christi, Texas) chipped in with 12 points and Thomas Verm (Sealy, Texas) was the other Bulldog to reach double-digits, scoring 10 points. Troy Griffith (San Antonio, Texas) led the team with 10 rebounds.
 
One of the differences on Friday came from behind the arc where Dallas Christian made 7-of-20 compared to just 2-of-12 for the Bulldogs.
 
The Crusaders were led by Espinosa, who scored a game-high 18 points. Chad Herring chipped in with 10 points of his own.
 
Texas Lutheran controlled most of the first half, building a 28-17 lead, its largest of the game, with 7:40 left in the opening frame. It looked like the Bulldogs would head into the locker room with a lead, but Espinosa made a 3-pointer while also getting fouled at the buzzer. He would make the free throw and tie up the game heading into the second half.
 
The lead changed hands seven times in the second and Dallas Christian only built a lead as large as five, but the Bulldogs were held to just 26 percent shooting in the second half and couldn't find enough offense to retake the lead.
 
The Bulldogs are right back in action tomorrow with a 3 p.m. matchup against tournament-host Wayland Baptist. Live stats and video will be available via TLUBulldogs.com.