KERRVILLE, Texas â€" Despite a career-high 18 points from Troy Griffith in his final regular season game in a Bulldog uniform, the Texas Lutheran men's basketball team couldn't overcome a 20-point deficit at halftime, falling to Schreiner 80-71 on the road in the season finale Saturday.
 
Griffith (San Antonio, Texas), a senior, scored those 18 points on 4-of-7 shooting while making nine of his 10 free throws to cap a season-ending stretch that saw him score in double figures in five of the last six games, including three times tying or setting a new career high.
 
Eleven of those 18 points came in the second half and helped lead a charge that saw the Bulldogs close a 20-point halftime deficit to as few as nine with under two minutes to go. The Bulldogs wouldn't get any closer though, as Schreiner's hot-shooting first half proved too much to overcome.
 
The Mounaineers were 15-of-27 from the field in that first half and went nuts from behind the three-point line, making 8-of-16 from long range. The Bulldogs, on the other hand, were held to 8-of-27 shooting in the first half and made 2-of-7 from three-point range.
 
The loss dropped the Bulldogs' record to 9-16 on the year and 3-11 in the SCAC, while Schreiner improved to 14-11 overall and 10-4 in league play. With conference play finished around the league, the Bulldogs are assured of the eighth seed in next weekend's SCAC Championship. They will take on top-seeded Trinity in the first round at Trinity.
 
After the cold start to the game, the Bulldogs warmed up in the second half coming off a season-best shooting performance in their last game against Dallas Christian. They shot 15-of-31 from the field in the second half and made four of their six three-point attempts.
 
Along with Griffith's 11 second-half points, Joshua Alderman (Needville, Texas) scored nine of his 14 points, including making 2-of-3 from three-point land.
 
Garrett Wilkins (Austin, Texas) was the other Bulldog to score in double figures. The junior finished with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting.
 
The Bulldogs outscored the Mountaineers 46-35 in that second half, holding Schreiner to just 1-of-8 shooting from behind the arc and 8-of-24 shooting from the field overall in the final 20 minutes.
 
Texas Lutheran jumped out to a 5-0 lead early after a Griffith 3-pointer. Schreiner eventually took a 14-12 lead, then used a 13-4 run to open up a double-digit lead with 7:06 to play in the first half. The lead would balloon to 45-25 as the halftime horn sounded.
 
More than seven and a half minutes into the second half, the Bulldogs still trailed by 20, but they would score eight straight points to cut the lead to just 12 with 11:43 left to play.
 
Schreiner would push the lead back out to 76-59 with 2:49 left before another 8-0 Bulldog run cut the lead to single digits for the first time since the second half. But with just 1:50 left, there just wasn't enough time left to complete the comeback.
 
The SCAC Championship tips on Friday, Feb. 28 at Trinity. The Bulldogs will face the Tigers are 1 p.m. in the tournament's first quarterfinal matchup.