Box Score Box Score

THE RUNDOWN
AUSTIN, Texas – St. Edward's shared the ball dishing 22 assists on 29 made field goals Saturday, highlighting an 88-66 win over Central Baptist College at the RCC. Five Hilltoppers scored in double figures with freshman Sean Phillips netting 19 to help SEU improve to 9-2 on the season.

The Hilltoppers never trailed in the contest and built a 48-25 halftime lead. Though the second half was much tighter, with the Mustangs (4-0, counted game as exhibition) outscoring SEU 41-40, the first-half hole was too much to overcome.

SEAN WATKINS, Landon Goesling and Dorian Lopez joined Phillips in double figures, but the trio also chipped in five assists apiece in the win. Phillips did most of his damage from long range, hitting 5-of-8 from 3-point land to go along with four free throws.

SEU turned the ball over a season-low seven times while turning 17 CBC turnovers into 26 points.


HIGHLIGHTS
• For the first time this season, freshman Sean Phillips led the Hilltoppers in scoring. He hit 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and finished with 19 points. It was his fifth time this season to score in double figures
• Phillips led SEU with two blocks.
• Landon Goesling scored 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting and has scored in double figures in all 11 games this season for SEU.
• SEAN WATKINS had five assists with zero turnovers and leapfrogged from tied for 10th to eighth all-time on the SEU career list with 231. He passed Shawn Weinstein (229, 2005-08) and Dwight Whittington (229, 1986-88) to move to eighth.
• Watkins scored 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting for his 23rd career game (7th this season) to score in double figures.
• Dorian Lopez scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, marking his ninth game of the season and 23rd of his career to score in double figures.
• Lopez's seventh of 13 points Saturday was the 400th point of his career (253 last season with Oklahoma Christian).
• Lopez's five assists gave the sophomore 100 career assists (77 at OCU last season).
• Lopez and Corey Shervill led SEU with seven rebounds apiece.
• JAMES TAYLOR scored a dozen off the bench and grabbed five rebounds. Taylor has scored in double figures eight times this season (33 times in his career).
• LUCAS DORIA scored his 100th career point with his first of two points Saturday.

STAT OF THE GAME I
5 – SEAN WATKINS, Landon Goesling and Dorian Lopez all had five assists in another balanced scoring effort for the Hilltoppers; SEU had 22 assists as a team, the sixth time the Hilltoppers have had 20 or more this season.

THEY SAID IT
SEU head coach Andre Cook on starting out fast against CBC …
"They had a big win against Ouachita Baptist, so I knew they'd be a little fatigued. They want to control tempo, make the game kind of in the 60s, and I didn't want to give them a chance to do that. I felt if we jumped on them early, we could play the way we want with getting the game into the 80s and 90s."

Cook on sharing the basketball and taking care of it …
"Yeah, that's always the first stat we talk about. Twenty-nine made baskets and we had 22 assists, with only 7 turnovers. I thought our execution was pretty crisp today for the most part. Something we talk about daily is that's how we have to play. We have to play with organization on offense, we cannot turn the basketball over, we have to get quality possessions, and our guys believe it. We talk about it all the time. I thought you saw that today on the court."

Freshman forward Sean Phillips on getting out to an early lead and a 9-2 start …
"Yeah, that was the point of the whole thing. Trying to get out on them early, make sure the guys off the bench got some minutes, too in the second half. I told coach [Cook] today that I was ready for the game. I did my job shooting threes. Everyone is feeling good right now. We had a good win for the day, going into the weekend feeling good."

WHAT'S NEXT
SEU will take on NCAA Division I Rice in an exhibition contest Thursday in Houston at 11:30 a.m. The game will count towards the Owls' overall record. Rice is 2-7 on the season, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3 & the WatchESPN app.