SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran men's basketball battled valiantly against Colorado College on Saturday evening. In a contest that Colorado College led for nearly 42 minutes of game time, the Bulldogs rallied late to force overtime, but the Tigers pulled away late for a 92-84 overtime win over the Bulldogs.
Semaj Edwards (Lanham, MD/Oak Hill) led TLU with 25 points, including a career-high seven made threes, and ten rebounds for his third career double-double as one of three Bulldogs in double figures. TLU led 17-16 in points off turnovers, forcing 14 Colorado College miscues, and held a 34-27 advantage in fast break points. The Tigers used a 42-26 advantage in the paint and outrebounded TLU 58-44.
Mason Wallace (San Antonio/Judson) finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, and three steals while
Teddy Tapken (Austin/Lake Travis) added 16 points and eight rebounds.
Colorado College led for all but 92 seconds in the first half as the visiting Tigers controlled the game throughout the first half, leading by as many as 11 points. Ten first half points from
Mason Wallace, including a three at the first half buzzer, kept the game close as the Bulldogs trailed 40-35 after the first 20 minutes of the contest.
The Bulldogs hung around throughout the first ten minutes of the second half, refusing to let the Tigers truly pull away. The Tigers took their largest lead of the half, 11 points, with eight minutes remaining. The Bulldogs trailed by six entering the final media timeout with 3:53 remaining before Tapken nailed a pair of free throws to shrink the lead to four. The Tigers kept it a two-possession game entering the final minute of regulation. As the foul count mounted between the two teams in a half that saw the teams combine for 35 fouls and 53 free throws, every single one would count down the stretch. The two teams traded free throws as the Tigers lead ranged from five to seven points before a
Semaj Edwards three cut it to four with 17 seconds left. Colorado College split a pair of free throws before Edwards nailed yet another three with eight seconds left. Colorado College split another pair of free throws, Edwards came through in the clutch one last time - sinking his fifth three of the second half with one second remaining to send the game into overtime. Edwards scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half.
In overtime, Colorado College took the lead first on a turnaround jumper on their opening possession. The teams traded baskets before the Tigers went on a 7-0 run over a two-minute stretch. The Tigers outscored TLU 15-7 in overtime to put the game away. The Bulldogs made just three of 12 shots in the extra session.
The Bulldogs return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 3 visiting Centenary College in Shreveport to make up the game that was postponed earlier this month due to winter weather. Tip-off is set for 5 PM. The game will be streamed on FloCollege. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.
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