SEGUIN â€" The Texas Lutheran men's basketball team couldn't overcome a cold-shooting second half in its 80-64 conference season-opening home loss against Schreiner on Saturday afternoon.
 
After shooting better than 50 percent in the first half and trailing by just four heading into the locker room, the Bulldogs were held to just 32 percent shooting in the second half while being outscored 40-28.
 
The loss, TLU's fourth straight, dropped its record to 5-6 on year and 0-1 in its inaugural SCAC season. Schreiner improved to 5-7 (1-0 SCAC) with the win.
 
Along with the second-half struggles from the field, the Bulldogs also couldn't find their range from deep, shooting just 2-of-13 from three-point land for the game while Schreiner knocked down 7-of-15.
 
While the Bulldogs were cold in the second half, Schreiner was red hot, shooting better 63 percent in the final 20 minutes.
 
Troy Griffith (San Antonio, Texas) led the Bulldogs, scoring a season-high 14 points and pulling down six rebounds. The senior forward shot 4-of-5 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw stripe.
 
Thomas Verm (Sealy, Texas) chipped in with 12 points, while Garrett Wilkins (11 points) and Jordan Kouremetis (10) also finished in double figures.
 
Schreiner was led by AJ Myres's 27 points on 9-of-17 shooting. He did a good job of getting to the charity stripe, finishing 9-of-11 from the line.
 
One symptom of the Bulldogs' struggles on offense was their lack of assists against Schreiner. TLU was held to a season-low eight dimes in the game. The Bulldogs are now 5-1 when they record 15 or more assists, but 0-5 when recording fewer than 15.
 
The Mountaineers led wire-to-wire after the Bulldogs fell behind 12-2 early. The deficit eventually grew to as large as 13 with seven minutes left in the half, but the Bulldogs battled back with nine straight points capped off by a Verm layup to get it to 33-29. The rest of the second half was played to a standstill.
 
Schreiner scored the first six points of the second half to grow the lead to double digits again. TLU got it back down to just seven with 10:44 to go, but a 13-1 run for Schreiner put the game out of reach.
 
Texas Lutheran will be looking to snap its four-game skid and get its first conference win of the season when it travels to San Antonio next Friday for a 6 p.m. matchup against Trinity. Live stats and video will be available via TLUBulldogs.com and live radio will be broadcast through KWED 1580.