TULSA, Okla. – St. Edward's Men's Basketball opened strong and never trailed to secure their third Heartland Conference Tournament Championship with a 69-59 win over Dallas Baptist Sunday. It is the Hilltopper's first tournament championship since 2007.
SEU opened the game on a 10-2 run in the first three minutes and eventually led by ten, 27-17, with 3:37 to go in the half. DBU controlled the tempo of the game, forcing the Hilltoppers into a slower pace and was able to hang within striking distance most of the half.
St. Edward's closed the half on a 10-2 run in the final three minutes and got four points in the final 12 seconds including a tip-in from
CORY MCKENDREE after
ASHTON SPEARS' fifth steal of the half. At the break, the Hilltoppers had their largest lead of the game, 15 points, leading 37-22.
DORIAN LOPEZ was outstanding offensively, leading the Hilltoppers in the half with 18 points, going 7-10 from the floor and 3-6 from three-point range.
SEU maintained a double-digit lead until a 10-0 Patriot run pulled DBU within five, 51-46, with just under seven minutes to play. An off-balance bank shot by Lopez stopped the bleeding and Spears followed with a three to push the lead back to 10, 56-46, with four minutes to go.
The double-digit lead held as the clock ticked under three minutes, then two. DBU's Carter Brown hit a three from the top of the key to pull Dallas Baptist back within nine, 58-49 with 1:49 remaining.
The fouling then started by DBU in an attempt to close the gap, but the Hilltoppers went 9-10 from the free throw line in the final 1:47 including a perfect 8-8 by
AUGUST HAAS to seal the win.
Lopez led all scorers with 25 points, going 9-16 from the floor and 4-10 from three-point range with a game-high 10 rebounds. Spears ended with 16 points and six steals.
Lopez earned an All-Tournament selection while Spears was named the Tournament MVP.
The Hilltoppers await their match-up from the NCAA Selection Show scheduled for 9:30 pm CT at ncaa.com
