SEGUIN, Texas -- The Texas Lutheran men's basketball team narrowly fell to Concordia (TX), 107-100, Tuesday evening at Memorial Gymnasium. The two teams pushed the pace and traded runs throughout the contest, the Tornados were able to hold on despite a late second half push from the Bulldogs.
Texas Lutheran finished with 52 second half points and 100 total points as they pushed the pace with a Tornados team that entered Tuesday ranked third in Division-III in scoring, averaging 106.2 points per game. The 100 point performance on Tuesday is the first time the Bulldogs have hit the century mark in a SCAC contest since joining the conference in 2013-14 and the first time since Jan. 8, 2002 against Schreiner the Bulldogs have hit 100 points.
Semaj Edwards (Lanham, MD/Oak Hill) led TLU with a season and career-high 29 points and five rebounds.
Mason Wallace (San Antonio/Judson) added 25 points, four rebounds, three blocks, and a career-high nine assists. Edwards and Wallace both connected on five threes each.
Teddy Tapken (Austin/Lake Travis) posted his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Isaac Orozco (Helotes/O'Connor) contributed five points and a career-high nine assists.
Concordia scored first, and the opening half featured four ties and five lead changes as the Bulldogs matched the Tornados patented high pace style of play.
Mason Wallace and
Semaj Edwards set the tone in the first half combining to connect on seven threes in the half. TLU would lead for a majority of the half and lead by as many as nine points. Edwards led the Bulldogs with 17 points in the first half with Wallace adding 14 of his own. Points off turnovers swung the first half as the Bulldogs outscored the Tornados 14-7 in points off turnovers to carry a 48-45 lead into halftime as the Tornados sank a three at the halftime buzzer to cut their deficit in half heading into the locker room.
The Tornados came out of the locker room with a ton of energy, starting the half with a 12-4 run to take a five point lead. The Tornados would lead by as many as 12 points in the second half but with
Teddy Tapken's 16 second half points leading the charge the Bulldogs were able to stay within distance of a potential comeback victory. Turnovers and untimely second chance baskets would cost the Bulldogs in the second half. Every time the Bulldogs would make it a two-possession game, the Tornados would respond with another three to stave off the Bulldogs.
Texas Lutheran continues its five-game homestand on Friday, January 9 against University of the Ozarks (AR). 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.
Fans can receive updates by following @tluathletics & @tlubasketball on X (Twitter) and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the TLU Athletics Facebook page at @tlubulldogs or by visiting the team's Instagram page at @tlumensbasketball and as always follow TLU athletics on all of our social channels for updates on all things TLU Athletics.
