AUSTIN, Texas – The St. Edward's men's basketball team used a second-half rally to defeat Our Lady of the Lake, 78-66 Saturday afternoon in the 2014 St. Edward's Catholic College Classic at the Recreation and Convocation Center. The win keeps the Hilltoppers undefeated at 7-0.
The 7-0 start is the best start under Coach Cook in his six years on the Hilltop. It is the best since the 1993-94 team opened the season with an 11-0 record.
Our Lady of the Lake (3-2) opened the game on an 11-5 run in the first six minutes of action. Otis Devine led the way with five points during the run.
St. Edward's (7-0) fought back to tie the game, 17-17, with 10:42 remaining.
FRANKIE MGBOLU had two buckets during the 12-6 run, and
JOHN GRAMLICH added a four-point play.
That is when the Saints defense would cause havoc, forcing four Hilltopper turnovers in the next three minutes which led to an OLLU 12-point lead with 7:55 remaining. It was a 12-point run that did the trick with both Darion Brown and De'Quintin Greer each had four points during the stretch.
The Saints held the 12-point lead with 3:24 left in the half, but four points each by Mgbolu and
TREY LINDSEY help cut the Our Lady of the Lake lead to 44-36, at the break.
St. Edward's committed 17 turnovers in the first frame, but an 18-12 rebound advantage kept the Hilltoppers within reach.
In the second half, the Hilltopper defense turned the tables on the Saints. After thwarting Our Lady of the Lake on its offensive possessions, St. Edward's had finally drawn even, 59-59, with 7:13 left in the game.
Mgbolu answered the bell with what could have been the biggest play of the game at the 6:35 mark. The junior point guard was fouled as he hit the only three-pointer he took. Hitting the free throw for the second four-point play on the afternoon put St. Edward's ahead, 63-59.
The Hilltoppers used that momentum to stretch the lead out to 12 points by the 2:14 mark.
HARLEY NUSSMAN had six points during the stanza and finished the outburst with an empathic dunk with 3:09 left in the contest. St. Edward's would keep that lead the rest of the way.
"I was proud of the way our guys handled the adversity from the first half," had coach Andre Cook said. "We made some adjustments at the break and held a very good team to just 21 percent shooting in the second half."
Gramlich, the tournament's most valuable player, tied Mgbolu for the team lead in scoring with 17 points. Mgbolu, who joins Gramlich on the all-tournament team, also had eight rebounds and three assists. Nussman was named to the all-tournament team as he narrowly missed his third-straight double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.
RAMIR BURTON chipped in with 11 points and Lindsey added nine points.
St. Edward's held Our Lady of the Lake to just 22 points in the second half on 21 percent shooting.
When asked about the team's 7-0 start, Cook said. "I have been a head coach for 19 years now. This group is really fun to coach. We have great leadership and the team is very unselfish. They don't care how many points each of them has, they just want to have more points than the other team at the end of the game."
St. Edward's will be back in action Tuesday when they host cross-town rival Huston-Tillotson. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Recreation and Convocation Center. Live video and stats will be available on the Hilltopper Athletic Website.
2014 St. Edward's Catholic College Classic All-Tournament TeamJOHN GRAMLICH, St. Edward's (MVP)
FRANKIE MGBOLU, St. Edward's
HARLEY NUSSMAN, St. Edward's
Daniel Skinner, Our Lady of the Lake
Deric Dudley, St. Thomas
Edvinas Presniakovas
