ABILENE, Texas -- Texas Lutheran sprinted to a 50-26 lead by the half and secured a 90-66 key regional road win over Hardin-Simmons on Saturday afternoon.

In a rematch of the NCAA Division III first-round game, hosted by TLU last spring and won by the Cowboys 97-81, the Bulldogs turned the tables on the defending American Southwest Conference champions by shooting 60.4 percent for the game and holding HSU to 29.5 percent.

In HSU's DIII playoff win over TLU last season, the Cowboys shot 75 percent (missing just six shots) in the second half. This time around, the Bulldogs missed just five shots (making 16-of-21, 76.2 percent) in the second half.

TLU improved to 3-0 under new head coach Mike Wacker. HSU dropped to 1-2 overall. TLU is the two-time defending champion of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.

TLU led nearly the entire game. HSU's only lead of the game came at 2-0. The Cowboys had the lead for 28 seconds. The Bulldogs' largest lead was 36, at the 11:06 mark of the second half.

Bulldog sophomore point guard Michael Sullivan (Frisco/Wakeland), starting in place of preseason All-American Sterling Holmes (San Antonio/Antonian), hit all six of his field goal attempts (including both of his three-pointers). He scored 15 points and added three rebounds.

Holmes was held out of the game due to injury. He did not play against HSU after scoring 25 points in 27 minutes Thursday in the road win over McMurry.

Zach Behr (Temple/Temple) added 15 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals. The senior forward was 6-for-10 from the floor.

Senior shooting guard Jordan Kouremetis (San Antonio/O'Connor) did not miss a shot on Saturday. He made all three of his field goal attempts (including both three-point shots), and he was 4-for-4 from the line.

Kouremetis' younger brother, Jacob (San Antonio/O'Connor), also had a good afternoon. He made both of his three-point shots and all six of his free throw attempts. Kouremetis also tallied three steals.

Freshman guard Mark Sullivan (San Antonio/Lee) led TLU in rebounds, with eight. Sophomore Shawn Hamilton (San Antonio/MacArthur) grabbed six rebounds.

TLU's bench out-scored the HSU bench 39-9. TLU had a 20-8 lead in second-chance points.

Nathaniel Jack led HSU with 25 points and 13 rebounds. TLU held HSU point guard Christian Neal to 1-for-15 from the field. Neal had 21 points and eight assists in the NCAA playoff win last March.

The Cowboys were a combined 4-for-24 from the three-point line.

Each team shot 31 free throws on Saturday. The Bulldogs were 24-for-31, and the Cowboys made 26 of their 31.

TLU's next two games will take place on the West Coast. The Bulldogs play Whitworth University (Wash.) in Spokane, Wash., at 7 p.m. PST Friday. TLU then faces Whitman College (Wash.) at 5 p.m. PST on Saturday. Both games will be played at the Whitworth Fieldhouse in Spokane.