Thursday night in TLU’s Memorial Gymnasium, Concordia-Austin rallied from 13 down with 8:37 to play and took a 1-point lead, 75-74, with 3:43 left in the game.
Joel McDonald hit two three-pointers and Brandon Graves added another three to get the Tornados quickly back into the contest. Concordia-Austin took its final lead of the game on a Devin Marburger baseline jumper.
Texas Lutheran tied the game at 75 with a free throw from Billy Williams and took the lead back with two more free throws from Nelson.
Concordia-Austin Valentino Maxwell tied the game at 77 with two free throws, which set the stage for Walton’s pull-up jumper in the lane. The freshman small forward knocked down two of his game-high 15 with the shot.
Nelson went back to the line with five seconds to play with a chance to seal the win. He made the first but missed the second.
Concordia-Austin rebounded the miss and dribbled down the court to find Brandon Graves in the corner for an open three-pointer. Graves’ shot glanced off the front of the rim and bounced clear of the lane as time expired.
Texas Lutheran improved to 7-14 overall and to 6-13 in the ASC.
Concordia-Austin fell to 4-17 overall and to 3-16 in the ASC.
Five Bulldogs finished in double figures for TLU, which shot a season-best 65.4 percent from the field. In addition to Walton’s 15, Nelson scored 13. Billy Williams, Hunter Holsonback and Jerrod Carpenter each contributed 12 points.
TLU point guard Jason Morales ended the game with seven assists, five rebounds and four steals.
The Tornados received 21 points from Maxwell and 18 from McDonald. Graves finished with 15.
TLU finishes its home basketball schedule with a 3 p.m. game Saturday against Mary Hardin-Baylor.
Newspaper Box Score Concordia vs Texas Lutheran 2-9-06 7:30 p.m. at Seguin, Texas (Memorial Gymnasium) At Seguin, Texas (Memorial Gymnasium) TEXAS LUTHERAN 81, CONCORDIA 78 CONCORDIA (4-17 (3-16 ASC)) Valentino Maxwell 7-15 5-9 21; Joel McDonald 7-16 0-1 18; Brandon Graves 5-13 4-5 15; Steve Nolan 4-7 0-0 9; Michael Mann 1-4 2-2 4; Michael Moore 1-8 1-2 3; Devin Marburger 1-1 1-2 3; George Freeman 1-3 0-0 3; Keighton Hatten 0-0 2-2 2; Bart Taylor 0-3 0-0 0; Jack Montagna 0-0 0-0 0; Luis Urquieta 0-0 0-0 0; Sanora Baptiste 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-70 15-23 78. TEXAS LUTHERAN (7-14 (6-13 ASC)) Nate Walton 6-11 1-3 15; Matt Nelson 4-6 5-8 13; Billy Williams 5-8 1-5 12; Hunter Holsonback 5-8 0-0 12; Jerrod Carpenter 5-7 2-2 12; Brian Alves 4-5 0-0 8; Josh Scott 2-3 0-0 5; Jason Morales 1-1 0-0 2; Thomas Osborn 1-1 0-0 2; Rion Hamilton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-50 9-18 81. Concordia..................... 41 37 - 78 Texas Lutheran................ 39 42 - 81 3-point goals-Concordia 9-33 (Joel McDonald 4-10; Valentino Maxwell 2-4; George Freeman 1-2; Brandon Graves 1-6; Steve Nolan 1-2; Michael Moore 0-5; Michael Mann 0-1; Bart Taylor 0-3), Texas Lutheran 6-11 (Hunter Holsonback 2-4; Nate Walton 2-4; Josh Scott 1-2; Billy Williams 1-1). Fouled out--Concordia-None, Texas Lutheran-None. Rebounds-Concordia 31 (Valentino Maxwell 6), Texas Lutheran 42 (Jerrod Carpenter 5; Nate Walton 5; Billy Williams 5; Jason Morales 5). Assists-Concordia 11 (Michael Moore 3; Michael Mann 3), Texas Lutheran 26 (Jason Morales 7). Total fouls-Concordia 19, Texas Lutheran 20. A-400