AUSTIN- Men's basketball concluded the 2019 portion of their season with back-to-back close losses to North Central College on Sunday and #23 Illinois Wesleyan University on Monday. Both games were hosted by Concordia University in Austin.
NCC 83 - SRSU 79 (Sunday, December 29)
The Cardinals scored the first five of the game and extended that to a 17-7 lead over the first 8:06 of the first half.
Cole Avery was able to hit three-straight free throws to bring the deficit back to single-digits at 11:03.
Tristen Licon brought it to six on a three-pointer at the 10:30 mark for a 19-13 score.
North Central answered with a 9-2 run for a 28-15 lead, their largest of the first half, with 8:12 left.
B.J. Hollis responded with back-to-back jumpers to again cut the NCC lead to single-digits, 28-19, at the 6:32 mark.
The Cardinals extended their lead to 10 three more times in the first half. The final occurrence came with 2:54 remaining and a 35-25 lead.
The Lobos used the next 2:25 for a 10-0 run to tie things for the first time in the game.
Logan Dixon started the run with a layup. He was fouled on the shot and converted the free throw for the three-point play. Hollis then drained a triple before Dixon again drove to the hoop to convert another layup. Hollis later picked off a pass and found
Cailen Bond for a fast break for a 35-35 tie with 29 seconds left.
North Central converted two free throws with four seconds left to take a 37-35 lead to the break.
Dixon was fouled 11 seconds into the second half and made both free throws for a 37-37 tie.
The Cardinals then used a 7-0 run to go up 44-37 with 17:31 left.
Another Hollis three, two Licon free throws, and a Bond layup resulted in a 7-2 run to put Sully within two at the 15:49 mark.
North Central scored the next five of the game for a seven-point lead and would hold at least a five-point lead until Licon sank two free throws at 12:32 for a 53-50 score.
Hollis again made it a three-point game with a triple at 9:42 to make it 57-54 Cardinals.
Now down seven,
Larry Morrison and Dixon combined for a quick 7-2 run to cut the deficit to two. Morrison started with a layup, was fouled, and hit his free throw. Dixon later converted a layup and a jumper to again bring it to within two, 61-59, with 7:11 left in the game.
The Cardinals again had an answer with an 11-2 run to extend their lead to nine with 3:48 remaining.
Aldon Johnson cut the deficit to four on three different occasions, but North Central was able to outlast the Lobos for an 83-79 win.
Licon led all scorers with 20 for the game. He added four steals and three rebounds.
Johnson finished with the first double-digit scoring effort of his career with 16 on 4-5 shooting and 7-9 from the free throw line. His five rebounds was a team-high.
Dixon and Hollis were both in double-digits with 15 points.
IWU 82 - SRSU 81 (Monday, December 30)
The Titans started the game on a 7-2 run before the Lobos responded with five unanswered for a 7-7 tie at the 15:55 mark of the first half. Dixon was responsible for four with a jumper and a layup while Licon added a triple.
Down four, Licon's layup at 15:12 made it a two-point game.
Jezreel Griffin went 1-2 from the line on their next trip as Sully trailed 12-11 with 14:32 left in the first.
Illinois Wesleyan responded with an 18-5 run over the next 7:30 for a 30-16 lead.
The lead would stay double-digits until Johnson's layup at 4:58 cut the margin to eight, 33-25 Titans.
Illinois Wesleyan used the remainder of the first half to go on a 14-8 run to take a 47-33 lead to the half.
Brayden Fry, Dixon, and Hollis took control and started the second half with a 12-0 run to put the Lobos within two. Fry scored the first four on back-to-back layups. Dixon added a free throw next time down the floor before Sully converted on their next three possessions with a Hollis triple and layups from Dixon and Fry to end the run down 47-45 with 16:31 left.
Hollis later hit another three-pointer to bring the Lobos within one, 51-50, with 14:28 left in the game.
The Titans regrouped and went on a 19-8 run over the next 5:37 for a 70-58 lead with 8:51 to go.
Down 74-63, Sully rattled off 10 unanswered to again trail by one. Johnson and
Jake Lopez started the run with back-to-back layups. Johnson later went to the line and sank both attempts before converting a jumper 1:18 later. Dixon finished the run with a layup to trail 74-73 with 3:02 left in regulation.
Griffin gave the Lobos a share of the lead with 1:02 remaining after sinking both at the line for a 78-78 tie.
Down two again, Dixon drove to the hoop for a successful layup and was fouled. His free throw put Sully up 81-80 with just 14 seconds remaining.
Illinois Wesleyan responded with a putback bucket after an offensive rebound with two seconds left to win 82-81 over the Lobos.
Dixon finished with a team-high 19 points, adding five rebounds and three assists.
Licon led the team in rebounds with six to go with 13 points and two steals.
Johnson was in double-digits again with 12. He added five rebounds, five steals, and four assists.
Sully sits at 4-6 on the season and 1-0 in conference play.
The Lobos now set their sights on 2020 and the return of conference play with a Thursday, January 2 battle with Louisiana College. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Gallego Center.
