SEGUIN, Texas â€" The Texas Lutheran Bulldogs moved back into first place in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference with an 80-77 home win Friday night over Schreiner University.
 
TLU improved to 13-8 overall and to 8-2 in the SCAC. The Bulldogs are a half-game up on Centenary College (La.). The Gents fell 87-84 in overtime at the University of Dallas.
 
TLU rallied again for a conference victory. The Bulldogs trailed 33-28 at the half but surged to a 14-point lead behind a 40-21 run over the first 14 minutes of the second half.
 
Jordan Kouremetis (San Antonio/O'Connor) scored 16 of his game-high 17 in the second half. Sterling Holmes (San Antonio/Antonian/Richland College) added eight points, two assists and two steals in the second half.
 
In the second half, the Bulldogs shot 64 percent (16-of-25) from the field and 84.2 percent (16-of-19) from the foul line.
 
As Schreiner made a late push in Memorial Gymnasium, Kouremetis drained a three with 52 seconds on the clock to extend the TLU lead back to seven, 76-79.
 
Up by 14 with 6:08 remaining in the game, TLU let the lead slip down to two with 24 seconds remaining and down to one with six seconds to play.
 
Holmes made a pair of free throws with 11 seconds to play, and Kouremetis made two more with five seconds remaining.
 
Zach Behr (Temple/Temple/Schreiner) added 14 points and six rebounds off the TLU bench. Donte McGee (Victoria/Memorial/Texas A&M-Kingsville) collected nine points, four rebounds and one block.
 
Schreiner dropped to 11-10 overall and to 4-6 in the SCAC with the loss. TLU and Schreiner split the season series, 1-1.  TLU Head Coach Jimmy Smith spent the previous two seasons as the head coach at Schreiner.
 
Smith has guided TLU to a 13-win season in his first go-round with the Bulldogs. TLU Men's Basketball has not won 13 games in a season since the 2004-05 campaign.
 
The 2004-05 season also produced the Bulldogs' last winning season, at 13-12. The Bulldogs of 2014-15 can secure the program's second winning season since 2004-05 with a win Saturday against Trinity.
 
The Bulldogs and Tigers face-off at 6 p.m. Saturday in TLU's Memorial Gymnasium. TLU will have live video and live stats on tlubulldogs.com.