Texas Lutheran remained in the American Southwest Conference West Division race with its fourth consecutive victory. The Bulldogs improved to 13-5 overall and to 5-2 in the ASC’s West Division.
McMurry fell to 9-8 overall and to 2-4 in the ASC West.
The Bulldogs received a career-high 21 points from redshirt freshman Jerrod Carpenter (Utopia/Utopia), who started in place of the injured Tommy Stolhandske (San Antonio/Churchill). Stolhandske, who averages 21.6 points and 14.4 rebounds, is out with a broken hand and could be sidelined for up to four weeks.
Stolhandske broke his hand in Monday’s win over Schreiner.
The Bulldogs also played their fourth consecutive game without second-leading scorer Will Hudson (San Antonio/Churchill), who averages 15.2 per contest. Hudson is out with a broken foot.
Nik Summers (San Antonio/Marshall) continued his recent scoring binge by adding 18 points, 14 in the second half. Summers had been over 15 points in the last four games in order to fill the scoring void left by Hudson. Summers also grabbed nine rebounds and dished out six assists in the win over the Indians.
Now with Stolhandske on the sidelines, Carpenter has put together back to back double-doubles and is averaging 20.5 points and eight rebounds since assuming a more prominent role.
The Bulldogs also received contributions Thursday from Matt Nelson (Spring/Klein), who had 13, and from point guard Jason Morales (El Paso/Montwood), who scored nine points, grabbed seven rebounds and handed out four assists.
Texas Lutheran and McMurry were tied at 26 at the half as both squads struggled from the floor. TLU hit 30 percent of its shots in the first 20 minutes, but McMurry managed just 37.5.
The Bulldogs heated up in the second half, shooting 14-of-25 (56 percent) and hitting 16-of-20 free throws.
Texas Lutheran played a zone the entire game to slow down the Indians attack and to keep the Bulldogs’ thin front line out of foul trouble. Texas Lutheran continued sagged guards into the lane to contest McMurry post players.
The Indians struggled from the floor (30 percent), from the three-point line (27.3 percent) and from the foul line (46.4 percent).
Texas Lutheran continues ASC West play with a home game Saturday against Hardin-Simmons. Game time is 3 p.m. in TLU’s Memorial Gymnasium.
Notes…Thursday’s men’s game did not start until 9 p.m. because of the delayed arrival by both McMurry men and women’s squads to Texas Lutheran. The McMurry bus broke down outside of Abilene. The women’s team arrived just after 6 p.m., and the women’s game tipped at 7 p.m. The men’s game started at 9 p.m.