The Colorado College men’s basketball winning streak came to an end last weekend when they battled Texas Lutheran University for first place standing in the SCAC. Texas Lutheran now holds a half-game lead over the Tigers.
It was a nerve-wracking nail-biter of a game. The Tigers started strong with a 10-point lead, reaching 17-7 with a three-pointer by senior guard Justin Berardino. CC maintained the lead until the 7:25 mark of the first half when Texas Lutheran pulled ahead with a layup, 22-21. Texas Lutheran held the lead until the end of the first half, with a halftime score of 42-36.
The lead was hotly contested in the second half. Forwards senior James Lonergan and sophomore Andrew Maddock combined for 13 points during a 15-5 run that put the Tigers once again in the lead by four points, 51-47. Soon after, Texas Lutheran snatched back the lead, hanging on to it until the 6:43 mark when Maddock, who led the team in scoring with 20 points, made a layup. That 68-67 lead was the last lead CC held during the game.
Twice, Texas Lutheran extended their lead to eight points in the last three minutes, but both times CC chipped it away. Lonergan closed out the scoring with a layup with just three seconds left. The final score was 81-79 for Texas Lutheran.
“We had several opportunities to close out the game from the defensive end and we failed to do that Friday,” said sophomore forward John Hatch, who scored a career-high 18 points.
The Tigers didn’t let the loss throw them, remaining confident in their abilities as a team.
“One of the biggest takeaways from the [TLU] game is how many guys we had in double figures,” said Maddock. “When you have that many weapons on the floor, it’s hard to slow down the offense. Anyone in our rotation can go off for 15 or 20 points on any given night and that’s what makes us so dangerous.”
The next day the team used that confidence and took on Southwestern University. Southwestern eventually took the lead in the middle of the half until a steal and a dunk by Hatch pulled CC ahead, 16-15. The Tigers drew out their lead, ending the first half 32-26.
CC maintained their lead for the entirety of the second half. The Tigers twice extended their lead to 14 points: once at the 13:43 mark with two free throws by Maddock and for the second time at the 12:39 mark with a three-pointer by Berardino. Southwestern fought back, narrowing their deficit down to two with about five minutes left but it wasn’t enough.
The Tigers built a cushion back up, solidifying their lead in the last minutes and ended the game 76-69. The Tigers’ record now stands at 12-7 overall and 7-1 in the SCAC.
“We couldn’t afford to drop another game,” said Maddock. “While it’s tough to bounce back from an emotional loss like the TLU game we all knew the importance of taking care of business at Southwestern. We came out and did what we needed to do to keep our spot near the top of the conference standings.”
Even after wins like the Southwestern game, the team and coaches still search for potential opportunities for improvement. “There were some breakdowns defensively where [Southwestern] found opportunities to score that we need to correct,” said Head Coach Andy Partee.
This weekend, the Tigers have the opportunity for a redo against Texas Lutheran as both Texas Lutheran and Southwestern travel to Colorado. If the Tigers defeat Texas Lutheran, then they will reclaim first place in the SCAC standings with a half-game lead.
“Now that we’ve faced them once, we know how they’re going to react to certain things that we do,” said Partee. “We know what adjustments they’ll make so it gives us some background knowledge. It gives you the familiarity that you want players to have.”