AUSTIN, Tx.- Sul Ross has dropped three straight American Southwest Conference West Division games with the last two being lost in the second half. After being up by 8, 55-47 at halftime, the Lobos fell to conference foe Concordia University, 118-111 Saturday in Austin. (BOX)
Saturday’s loss marks Sully’s highest scoring contest of the year and the second time the Lobos have reached triple scoring digits.
Tury Escobar pulled in a season best 29 points followed Sidney Hooper’s 28. C.J. Acosta racked up his third double-double of the season with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Aaron Hardwick contributed 11 points in the effort.
Sul Ross jumped out to a quick 11-0 run in the opening minutes of play. The Tornadoes pulled within 2 points four times in the first half and tied the contest once. The Lobos led by as much as 16 points with just over two minutes to play until intermission and went to the half leading CUA 55-47.
Sully started the second half with a jumper by Hooper to widen the Lobo gap by 8, 57-49. The Lobos spread the margin by as much as 11 over the next 3 minutes of play. The Tornadoes then capitalized on Lobo turnovers, fouls and missed shots to pull within a point trailing Sul Ross 69-68 at the 14:44 mark.
Conocordia then took the lead with 13:32 left in regulation then commenced on a dominating 18-0 run in a 3 minute span. The Tornadoes sported their biggest lead of the contest with a 19 point, 91-72 over the Lobos with 10:39 left in the contest. Sul Ross rallied steadily in the closing minutes of the game and pulled within 3, 114-111 with 19 seconds left to play. A pair of fouls and missed 3-pointers in the final seconds proved the Lobos undoing as Concordia walked away with the 118-111 victory.
The Tornadoes sported five players with double digits with Valentino Maxwell leading scorers with 31 points.
The Lobos shot 55% from the field including 42% from beyond the arc and 78% from the foul stripe.
The Lobos fall to 7-11 and 7-8 in ASC play and will return to the Gallego Center next week for a two-game home swing against Mary Hardin-Baylor and Concordia.
Newspaper Box Score Sul Ross State vs Concordia 01/28/06 3:00 p.m. at Austin, Texas At Austin, Texas CONCORDIA 118, SUL ROSS STATE 111 SUL ROSS STATE (7-11, 7-8 ASC) Arturo Escobar 12-21 3-5 29; Sidney Hooper 8-15 6-6 28; C.J. Acosta 7-12 7-10 21; Aaron Hardwick 4-8 3-3 11; Jesus Banuelos 3-5 3-3 9; Matt Santa Cruz 3-9 1-1 8; Abraham Ely 1-3 0-0 2; Art Gonzalez 0-0 2-2 2; Richard Hooper 0-1 1-1 1; Travis Johnson 0-1 0-0 0; Moises Morales 0-0 0-2 0; Cornell Hunt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 38-75 26-33 111. CONCORDIA (4-13, 3-12 ASC) Valentino Maxwell 10-15 10-12 31; Joel McDonald 7-13 7-7 23; Michael Moore 5-8 2-3 13; Steve Nolan 3-3 4-4 12; George Freeman 4-9 1-2 11; Michael Mann 3-9 1-4 7; Jack Montagna 3-3 0-0 6; Devin Marburger 2-3 2-2 6; Sanora Baptiste 2-3 1-2 5; Brandon Graves 2-7 0-0 4; Bart Taylor 0-0 0-0 0; Luis Urquieta 0-1 0-0 0; Keighton Hatten 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 41-75 28-36 118. Sul Ross State................ 55 56 - 111 Concordia..................... 47 71 - 118 3-point goals-Sul Ross State 9-24 (Sidney Hooper 6-11; Arturo Escobar 2-6; Matt Santa Cruz 1-3; Abraham Ely 0-1; Travis Johnson 0-1; Aaron Hardwick 0-2), Concordia 8-19 (Steve Nolan 2-2; Joel McDonald 2-5; George Freeman 2-6; Valentino Maxwell 1-1; Michael Moore 1-2; Brandon Graves 0-1; Luis Urquieta 0-1; Keighton Hatten 0-1). Fouled out--Sul Ross State-Aaron Hardwick; C.J. Acosta, Concordia-Devin Marburger. Rebounds-Sul Ross State 44 (C.J. Acosta 12), Concordia 33 (Michael Moore 7). Assists-Sul Ross State 15 (Arturo Escobar 5), Concordia 20 (Michael Moore 7). Total fouls-Sul Ross State 28, Concordia 31. A-315