ALPINE, Tx.- Doug Davalos and his Sul Ross Lobos have done it again. A 91-80 conference win over TLU Saturday at the Gallego Center and a barn-burning 71-70 Hardin-Simmons loss to Concordia in Austin have lifted Sul Ross to a fourth seed finish in the conference West, sending the Lobos to their fourth-consecutive appearance in the ASC Tournament. (BOX)
Sidney Hooper finished his final home appearance with a 23-point showing against the Bulldogs. Sophomore teammate Art Gonzalez tallied a season and career best 18 points including a 4-5 outing from 3-point range. Tury Escobar, also seeing his final game at the Gallego Center, supplied 13 points while freshman Moises Morales posted 12 in the victory. Abe Ely contributed 4 boards.
The Lobo offense exploded with a 13-5 run to start the contest. The Bulldogs pulled within 4 points three times before Sully commenced on an 8-0 assault to lead by 12, 26-14 with 8:52 left in the first half.
Texas Lutheran made it interesting, pulling the spread to 3 points 3 times over the next 5 minutes. Sul Ross then put up a 7-2 run to go to the break, leading TLU 44-34.
Escobar put his team up by 12, 46-34 off a steal and a layup to start the second half. Sul Ross would lead by as much as 15 points twice over the next several minutes. The Bulldogs came no closer than 4 points at the 4:29 mark. The Lobos shuffled back and fourth with 7 and 9 point leads over the closing minutes before taking the 11-point, 91-80 victory.
TLU spotted 5 players in double figures led by Jerrod Carpenter’s 20 points. Matt Nelson led at the boards with 8 rebounds.
As a team, the Lobos shot 52% from the field. Sully had a 46% showing from beyond the arc including a 7-14 outing (50%) in the first half. Sul Ross converted 15 of 22 free-throws, good for 71%.
Sul Ross finishes the regular season a game above .500 at 13-12 while posting a league mark of 13-9.
The Pack will face the number 1 seed from the East, Mississippi College (23-1, 20-1), in the first round of the American Southwest Conference tournament next Friday at 12:00 noon at the Brownwood Coliseum. Howard Payne will host the three-day event.
Newspaper Box Score Texas Lutheran vs Sul Ross State 02/18/06 3:00 p.m. at Alpine, Texas (Pete P. Gallego Center) At Alpine, Texas (Pete P. Gallego Center) SUL ROSS STATE 91, TEXAS LUTHERAN 80 TEXAS LUTHERAN (7-17, 6-16 (ASC)) Jerrod Carpenter 8-10 4-4 20; Matt Nelson 5-10 3-4 13; Will Hudson 3-12 1-4 10; Jason Morales 3-3 3-3 10; Josh Scott 4-8 0-0 10; Brian Alves 4-5 0-0 8; Nate Walton 2-2 2-3 7; Billy Williams 0-1 2-2 2; Hunter Holsonback 0-4 0-0 0; Thomas Osborn 0-0 0-0 0; Garrett Allen 0-0 0-0 0; Rion Hamilton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-56 15-20 80. SUL ROSS STATE (13-12, 13-9(ASC)) Sidney Hooper 8-11 3-5 23; Art Gonzalez 5-6 4-6 18; Arturo Escobar 4-10 3-4 13; Moises Morales 5-5 0-0 12; C.J. Acosta 2-12 3-4 7; Abraham Ely 3-4 0-1 6; Aaron Hardwick 2-6 2-2 6; Richard Hooper 1-1 0-0 2; Jermaine Packer 1-2 0-0 2; Matt Santa Cruz 1-5 0-0 2; Travis Johnson 0-0 0-0 0; Cornell Hunt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-62 15-22 91. Texas Lutheran................ 34 46 - 80 Sul Ross State................ 44 47 - 91 3-point goals-Texas Lutheran 7-19 (Will Hudson 3-5; Josh Scott 2-6; Nate Walton 1-1; Jason Morales 1-1; Hunter Holsonback 0-4; Rion Hamilton 0-1; Matt Nelson 0-1), Sul Ross State 12-26 (Art Gonzalez 4-5; Sidney Hooper 4-7; Moises Morales 2-2; Arturo Escobar 2-5; Matt Santa Cruz 0-2; Aaron Hardwick 0-2; C.J. Acosta 0-3). Fouled out--Texas Lutheran-Jason Morales, Sul Ross State-Aaron Hardwick. Rebounds-Texas Lutheran 38 (Matt Nelson 8), Sul Ross State 27 (Abraham Ely 4). Assists-Texas Lutheran 14 (Jason Morales 5), Sul Ross State 16 (Sidney Hooper 6). Total fouls-Texas Lutheran 21, Sul Ross State 17. A-671