BROWNWOOD, Texas -- Texas Lutheran came up short in the final game of their season opening road trip, falling to Howard Payne, 99-90, Saturday evening at Brownwood Coliseum.
Teddy Tapken (Austin/Lake Travis) tallied his second double-double in as many games to start the season, finishing with 23 points and ten rebounds. It is Tapken's fourth straight game of 20-plus points dating back to last season. The Bulldogs trailed for most of Saturday's contest with brief, sporadic leads.
Semaj Edwards (Lanham, MD/Oak Hill) had 21 points, six rebounds, and two steals before fouling out, while Mason Wallace (San Antonio/Judson) was the final Bulldog in double figures with 11 points and tallied a career-high four blocks.
Despite the Yellow Jackets leading for a majority of the first half, they were never able to create any true separation as the Bulldogs hung around and were able to enter the locker room with the game tied 44-all following a three from Kris Jones (Port Aransas/Port Aransas) at the buzzer.
The Yellow Jackets would lead by as many as 12 points in the second half as they would take advantage of 18 TLU turnovers. Howard Payne would finish with an 18-10 advantage in points off turnovers.
A 12-6 run over four minutes eliminated the Yellow Jackets six point lead to tie the game at 63 with 13 minutes remaining. A three from freshman Aaron Garcia (San Antonio/Holy Cross) gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the second half with 11:10 remaining, but it would be brief as the Yellow Jackets regained the lead and never relinquished it again.
The Bulldogs will enjoy a near two week break before their 2025 home opener against Southwestern in Memorial Gymnasium on Friday, November 21. Tip-off is set for 5:30 PM. The game will be streamed on FloCollege. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.
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