SEGUIN, Texas -- In a back-and-forth affair that featured six ties and two lead changes in the second half, Howard Payne (6-2) came out on top, defeating Texas Lutheran (2-3), 81-79, Sunday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium.
Semaj Edwards (Lanham, MD/Oak Hill), last week's SCAC Offensive Player of the Week, put forth his fourth-straight game of 20 points or more, scoring a team-high 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Teddy Tapken (Austin/Lake Travis) finished with 16 points, four assists, and a team-high eight rebounds while
Mason Wallace (San Antonio/Judson) stuffed the statsheet with 15 points, six rebounds, five assists, and three blocks.
Isaac Orozco (Helotes/O'Connor) had his best performance of the season, tallying season-highs of 11 points, six assists, and six steals - tying his career-high.
Howard Payne found it difficult to miss early on, taking an early 26-17 lead with 11:55 to go in the half. Texas Lutheran would chip away to tie the game 35-all with 6:46 remaining as the two teams traded leads down the stretch with the Bulldogs entering the locker room down 47-46.
The Bulldogs took their largest lead of the day, 58-52, early in the second half before the Yellow Jackets responded with an 11-1 run to take a 63-59 lead with 9:07 remaining.
TLU would trail by as many as eight points with 6:15 remaining before fighting back to tie the game at 75 with 2:26 remaining. The game would be nip and tuck over the closing moments as the teams fought for the final lead. A foul on a fast break layup led to two free throws and a two-point lead for the Yellow Jackets with 19 seconds remaining. A potential game winning three-point attempt from Edwards missed the mark to make it an 81-79 final in favor of the Yellow Jackets as the Bulldogs were unable to avenge their loss from earlier this season.
Texas Lutheran will return to action on Friday, December 5, as they travel to Georgetown for a rematch with Southwestern. Tip-off is set for 5:30 PM. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.
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