Without their leading scorer and rebounder, Lewis Rowe, St. Edward’s men’s basketball fell to the Dallas Baptist University (DBU) Patriots, 84-75, on Thursday night.
Rowe was injured in last Saturday’s win over Texas A&M International University in Laredo, TX, and missed his first game of the season. Freshman Sam McKinney made his first career start in a Hilltopper uniform.
Both teams opened up the scoring trading three pointers. The Hilltoppers kept pace with the Patriots in a first half that had seven ties and 12 lead changes.
Patriot Ricky Lujan drained a three with eight minutes to go in the first half to mark DBU’s largest lead in the half. However, Luca Barei’s lay-up on the following possession sparked a 16-6 run by the Hilltoppers over the next five and a half minutes.
Both teams were neck and neck leading up to halftime. A strong defensive possession by the Hilltoppers forced Trevor Frank to miss a three. Travon Williams corralled the miss but his outlet pass was intercepted by Frank, who banked a jumpshot in before the buzzer to give the Patriots a 43-41 lead at the break.
Taking control of the game in the second half, the Patriots never looked back. The Hilltoppers turned the ball over on their opening possession and DBU rushed out of the gates on a 6-0 run.
DBU cashed in on four SEU turnovers and a 21-11 run to go ahead 64-52 at the 12-minute mark.
The Hilltoppers shot 5-22 from three and missed a head-scratching 16 free throws (17-33).
“I thought we did some good things,” St. Edward’s head coach Andre Cook said. “It’s hard to make a run when you’re constantly missing free throws.”
Jamison Kay led the Hilltoppers with 17 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists. McKinney had nine points and a team-leading eight rebounds.
The Hilltoppers fall to 14-10 on the year and 7-7 in Lone Star Conference play.
