SEGUIN, Texas â€" Texas Lutheran kept its hold on first place in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference with an 81-67 home win Saturday over the Trinity Tigers.
 
TLU posted a 14^th win of the season for the first time since 2003-04 and clinched the men's basketball program's first winning season since 2004-05.
 
The Bulldogs, led by first-year Head Coach Jimmy Smith, improved to 14-8 overall and to 9-2 in the SCAC.
 
Trinity, the defending SCAC champion, fell to 2-20 overall and to 1-10 in the SCAC.
 
The Bulldogs jumped to a 48-30 lead by the half by making 60.9 percent of its shots in the opening frame.
 
TLU made 12 of its 17 three-point attempts in the opening 20 minutes.
 
TLU freshman guard Austin Pickens (La Vernia/La Vernia), who scored a career-best 25 in the Jan. 17 double-overtime road win over Trinity, again shot well against the Tigers. Pickens made five of his first six shots and four of his first five three-pointers to score 14 in the first half.
 
Bulldog sophomore Jordan Kouremetis (San Antonio/O'Connor) scored 15 of his 18 in the first half. He made five three-pointers in the first.
 
Donte McGee, TLU's senior forward from Victoria (Memorial/Texas A&M-Kingsville), took over in the second half. McGee scored 15 of his team-high 21 in the final 20 minutes.
 
McGee ended the night with 21 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and a block.
 
Zach Behr (Temple/Temple/Schreiner) chipped in 10 points and six rebounds off the Bulldog bench.
 
Matt Selling led Trinity with 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting. He went 5-for-7 from the three-point line.
 
The top five teams, in addition to tournament host University of Dallas, qualify for the SCAC Championship Tournament, set for Feb. 27, Feb. 28 and March 1 in Irving, Texas.
 
TLU sits atop the SCAC standings with three conference games remaining. The schedule is not easy. The Bulldogs travel to second-place Centenary (in Shreveport, La.) on Feb. 13 and face Colorado College on Feb. 15 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
 
The Bulldogs wrap-up the regular season on Feb. 20 with a home game against Southwestern.
 
With the loss to TLU, Trinity fell three games behind Schreiner for that final tournament slot. The Tigers have just three games remaining in their conference schedule.