FRISCO – The ninth-ranked St. Edward's men's basketball team survived its quarterfinal matchup against Tarleton State on Friday, as the Hilltoppers earned a 60-52 victory at the Comerica Center.
ASHTON SPEARS scored a game-high 22 points, while
LUCAS DORIA added a career-best 18 to push SEU to the semifinals of the Lone Star Conference Tournament.
The Hilltoppers (26-3) raced out to a 7-0 start, but the Texans (18-12) battled back to tie the game at 12-all with 11:23 left in the opening half. The lead changed hands four times after that until Doria hit a layup with 2:22 left in the first stanza to put SEU up 30-31. The 'Toppers took a 37-32 lead when Doria got loose under the basket again in the final minute.
Tarleton State pulled even at 46-all with 8:40 left in the contests, as Devin Bethely hit a jumper in the lane.
A Javontae Hopkins free throw under a minute later put the Texans on top 47-46.
The lead was short-lived, as
DORIAN LOPEZ muscled his way to the hoop and made a contested layup to reclaim the advantage for St. Edward's.
The Hilltoppers stayed in front the rest of the way.
Tarleton State's last points came with 2:03 left on the clock, as Zach Naylor hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 55-52.
Lopez answered with a free throw at the 1:35 mark, while Spears hit four more down the stretch to close out the contest.
St. Edward's shook off a poor-shooting performance from the field. The 'Topper connected on only 32.3 percent (20 of 62) of their shots during the game, including only 10.7 percent (3 of 28) from beyond the arc.
SEU will turn its attention to Saturday's semifinal matchup against No. 3 seed Texas A&M-Kingsville, which took down Dallas Baptist earlier in the day. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. at the Comerica Center.
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