SHREVEPORT, La. â€" It may have taken an extra five minutes, but the Texas Lutheran men's basketball team got its first conference win of the season Friday night, beating Centenary on the road 90-83 in overtime inside the Gold Dome.
 
It was a wild ride to their first SCAC win for the Bulldogs, needing a pair of free throws from Troy Griffith with just six seconds left to send the game to overtime. After Centenary missed a jumper at the buzzer, the Bulldogs took care of business in overtime, making 6-of-11 from the field and 7-of-10 from the free throw line to seal the win.
 
Griffin's free throws capped off an action-packed final 30 seconds of regulation. With the game tied, it looked like the Bulldogs would be able to run the clock down and take the final shot of regulation, but a steal and jumper by Jonathan Blount with just 22 seconds left gave the Gents the lead. Griffith was able to earn the trip to the free throw line after being fouled with six seconds left.
 
The victory moved Texas Lutheran's record to 6-10 on the year and 1-5 in SCAC play. The loss dropped Centenary to 7-8 overall and 2-3 in conference action.
 
The hero of overtime was Robert Watson Jr. (Corpus Christi, Texas), who scored 10 points in those five minutes. The junior was 4-of-6 from the field and 2-of-4 from the free throw line in overtime. He finished the game with 23 points and seven rebounds on 10-of-15 shooting.
 
The Bulldogs also got plenty of help from freshman Jordan Kouremetis (San Antonio, Texas). He scored a game-high 26 points and was, once again, the Bulldogs' main threat from outside, making five of his seven three-point attempts. For the second straight game, he also did a majority of his damage in the second half, scoring 16 of his 26 points in the period. In his last game against Colorado College, he scored 22 second-half points.
 
Garrett Wilkins (Austin, Texas) chipped in 19 points to go along with 6 assists, while Donte McGee (Victoria, Texas) added 12 points of his own.
 
The Bulldogs' 90 points was their second highest total of the season and have averaged 87.5 points per game over the last two contests. They shot 52.8 percent from the field and 60 percent from three-point range in the game. Friday was the second straight game the Bulldogs have shot better than 50 percent from the field.
 
The first half was played pretty tightly, but Centenary was able to end the half on a 7-2 run to take a 38-31 lead into the locker room.
 
The Bulldogs' offense caught fire in the second half, scoring 40 points while shooting 48 percent from the field. The defense also came on strong, holding Centenary to just 39.1 percent field goal shooting and forcing 13 Gent turnovers.
 
TLU still found itself down 48-42 with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game, but a 10-0 Bulldog run quickly changed the complexion of the game, giving the Bulldogs a 52-48 lead with 9:29 to go. The game would remain close the rest of the way leading up to the wild final 30 seconds.
 
The Bulldogs will look to make it two wins in a row with a 1 p.m. road matchup against Austin College on Sunday.