It was a collective effort.
The entire Sul Ross men's basketball team played a huge role in Wednesday afternoon's upset of the No. 18 ranked Trinity University Tigers at the Pete P. Gallego Center.
Sul Ross overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half to pull away for the 93-88 victory.
"Today, we finally put together a complete game. The games up in Washington — we were missing the first 10 minutes," said Sul Ross head coach
Xavier Webb. "It's good for our confidence to finally come over the top and then build confidence moving forward down into conference."
The Lobos began on a 4-0 run in the first half after some jumpers made by
Julian Paredes and Christian Nevarez.
Trey Nelson extended the lead and run to 6-0 with 18:03 on the clock.
Trinity then cut the deficit with a three-pointer.
With two 3-pointers by Nelson and Paredes, the Lobos held a 12-5 lead with 15 1/2 minutes remaining.
The Tigers got back to within one before Sul Ross extended its lead with a jumper by Paredes.
Trinity used a 3-0 run to take a 16-14 short-lived lead.
Gabe Sanchez put the Lobos back out in front with a clutch three-pointer.
The lead went back to the Tigers after they answered with a three from Jacob Millhouse.
There were four different lead changes down the stretch before Tanner Brown made a layup with 32 seconds left until halftime, which gave Trinity a 43-41 lead.
To start the second half, the Tigers went on a 7-0 run until Hayden Peterson snapped it with a three-pointer.
The contest endured three different lead changes before Trinity went on an 8-0 run to lead 61-53 with 12:51 on the clock.
Grayson Herr made a jumper to extend the Tigers' lead to 10 with 11:24 to go.
Caelyb Kerley knocked down a timely three-pointer while Paredes grabbed a steal that led to a layup by Vince Peralez that got the Lobos to within five.
Trinity then gained a nine-point lead with 7:22 remaining. The Lobos kept chipping away as Luke Pluymen nailed a three-pointer to cut the deficit to three.
Paredes made two key free throws with 4:50 to go, which made the score 76-74 in favor of Trinity.
A three off the fast break from Nevarez got the Lobos to within one.
Nelson then landed the go-ahead three-pointer with 3:34 on the clock, which put the Lobos back on top, 80-76.
Just like that, the tables had turned as Sul Ross put together a nice run to take a 10-point lead.
Paredes led the Lobos with 30 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and six assists.
"It's a great feeling. We're coming off a little slump and to get a win against a great team like this — it's a confidence builder for sure," added Paredes. "We just got to use this to keep that momentum."
Four other Lobos tallied double-digit scoring figures as Pluymen chipped in with 19 points while Nevarez had 13.
Peralez and Nelson each finished with 10 points.
Sul Ross narrowly out-rebounded Trinity, 37-35. The Lobos knocked down 11 shots from beyond the arc while shooting 14 of 20 from the free throw line.
"Credit to our guys. They shared that basketball beautifully, played off two feet and played to our standard," said Webb. "We had big time ball pressure, good hole help and the biggest thing was we ended possessions."
>> BIG TIME: This was the first time Sul Ross has upset a nationally-ranked opponent since Dec. 19, 2018. That season the Lobos upset the College of Wooster, which was ranked No. 14. Sul Ross won, 88-84, on the final day of the Classic in the Valley in Mesa, Ariz.
>> RECORDS: Sul Ross (1-3); Trinity (3-2)
>> UP NEXT: The Lobos travel to Angelo State for an exhibition game at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 26
