ABILENE, Texas â€" Texas Lutheran Men's Basketball won for the fifth time in six games and knocked off previously unbeaten Hardin-Simmons 77-54 at HSU's Mabee Complex on Monday.
 
The Bulldogs (5-5) posted their third straight win and reached .500 after opening the year with four losses.
 
HSU, the American Southwest Conference preseason favorite, lost for the first time after opening the year with nine victories. The Cowboys received votes in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.
 
TLU hit seven three-pointers in the first half and led 39-32 at the break. The Bulldogs were 7-of-14 from the arc in the opening 20 minutes.
 
TLU held HSU to 35.7 percent from the floor in the first half, but the Cowboys did make five threes.
 
The Bulldogs pulled away from HSU in the second half by hitting 13 of 24 shots and five more three-pointers. The Bulldogs also hit 7-of-9 at the free throw line in the second half.
 
TLU held HSU to 21.7 percent shooting in the second half and to 32 percent shooting for the game.
 
Jordan Kouremetis (San Antonio/O'Connor) scored 10 in the first half and made three three-pointers.
 
Kouremetis led a balanced TLU scoring effort. He scored 13 and distributed four assists.
 
Garrett Wilkins (Austin/Connally/Colorado Northwestern CC) and Zach Behr (Temple/Temple/Schreiner) contributed eight and seven points, respectively, off the bench in the first half.
 
Wilkins ended the night as the only other Bulldog in double figures. The senior guard scored 11.
 
Seven different Bulldogs registered at least seven points. Sterling Holmes (San Antonio/Antonian/Richland CC) tallied nine points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
Senior forward Donte McGee (Victoria/Memorial/Texas A&M-Kingsville) grabbed a team-best nine rebounds and scored eight.
 
HSU's preseason All-American Derrick Jefferson was 3-for-7 from the floor and scored 13 points with six rebounds.
 
Cameron Barnes led the Cowboys with 18.
 
TLU's game with HSU was a non-conference game between two former members of the American Southwest Conference. TLU now plays as a member of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. HSU remains as a member of the ASC.
 
The Bulldogs return to Seguin for a New Year's Eve contest against another ASC opponent, Mary Hardin-Baylor. Game time in TLU's Memorial Gymnasium is 1 p.m. TLU will have live video and live stats from tlubulldogs.com.