GEORGETOWN, Texas â€" The Texas Lutheran Bulldogs managed just six made shots in the second half and dropped a 55-53 non-conference contest to Southwestern University on Monday night.
 
The Bulldogs (0-3) led 34-28 at the break and had an 11-point lead, 50-39, with 10:31 to play in the game.
 
Southwestern (1-1) rallied for the win behind a closing 16-3 run.
 
TLU did not have a made field goal over the final 10:31 of the game. The Bulldogs missed their final eight shots from the floor and committed five turnovers down the stretch.
 
TLU and Southwestern are members of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. The teams meet two more times in the 2014-15 season, and those two match-ups will count in the conference standings.
 
A jumper and two free throws from Ryan Ogden, a Travis Kurtz layup and a Chris Lee three-pointer cut the TLU lead to 50-48 with 4:47 remaining.
 
Zach Whitlock's layup tied the game at 50 with four minutes to play, and a Lee free throw put the Pirates in front 51-50 to cap a 12-0 run.
 
TLU's Sterling Holmes (San Antonio/Antonian/Richland College) hit one of two free throws to deadlock the game at 51 with just over a minute to play.
 
Whitlock, who finished with a career-high 16 points and 15 rebounds, hit another layup with 43 seconds remaining to give Southwestern the 53-51 edge.
 
The Bulldogs turned the ball over on their next possession, and Southwestern made one of two free throws.
 
TLU trimmed the lead to one, 54-53, with a pair of free throws from Michael Davis (Kingwood/Kingwood).
 
Southwestern went back to the free throw line after a Bulldog foul and made one of two, giving TLU a chance to force overtime or win with a three-pointer.
 
The Bulldogs missed a shot in the final seconds that would have forced overtime.
 
Whitlock hit eight of his 13 shots and grabbed 13 of his 15 rebounds on the defensive glass. Lee added 12 points, two rebounds and two blocks for the Pirates.
 
TLU put only one player, Garrett Wilkins (Austin/Connally/Colorado Northwestern CC), in double figures. The senior guard scored 11 points and added three assists.
 
Bulldog sophomore forward Zach Behr (Temple/Temple/Schreiner) collected seven rebounds and scored five points.
 
TLU finished the night at 32.1 percent shooting. The Bulldogs were 9-of-19 (47.4 percent) from the three-point line but just 9-of-37 (24.3 percent) from inside the arc.
 
The Bulldogs must rebound quickly from Monday night's loss. The team hosts NAIA school Huston-Tillotson at 7 p.m. Tuesday in TLU's Memorial Gymnasium.
 
TLU will have live stats and live video, both free, on tlubulldogs.com for the non-conference game.