AUSTIN – St. Edward's men's basketball used its break from Division II opponents to make a lineup tweak, giving first-year center Sean Elkinton his first collegiate start in a dominant 94-53 victory over National Christian College Athletic Association's Arlington Baptist Patriots.
At 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds, Elkinton is a physical presence to hold a steady position amid an offense in constant motion. He's a crowbar used to pry open a defense when the surgical strikes of precision ball movement just won't do.
The Hilltoppers looked for their big man early against an overmatched Arlington Baptist frontcourt, going inside for six of St. Edward's first nine points, with all three baskets coming at point-blank range. In just 21 minutes, Elkinton produced his first collegiate double-double, scoring 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting and grabbing 11 rebounds with a pair of assists, five blocks, and a steal.
St. Edward's guard Carson Tuttle worked with Elkinton to set the tone for the Hilltopper offense by setting the table, assisting on seven of his team's first eight buckets, finding Elkinton for three layups, UCHE DIBIAMAKA for a 3-pointer, and MASON HIX for a pair of baskets in the paint.
Tuttle finished with five points on 2-for-3 shooting with eight assists and no turnovers, continuing to guide the Hilltopper offense with a steady hand by accumulating 18 assists with no turnovers through three games while averaging 9.3 points on 62.5 percent shooting, including 50 percent from deep on 12 attempts.
The regular rotation players overwhelmed Arlington Baptist, scoring 51 points before the Patriots reached double figures and taking a 58-18 lead into the half. St. Edward's shot 24-for-26 (66.7 percent) from the field, including 10-for-19 (52.6 percent) from beyond the 3-point line in the first half, assisting on 20 of its 24 field goals.
St. Edward's moved the ball around the perimeter and through the pinch post, moving the Arlington Baptist defense side-to-side until an opening presented itself, such as a thunderous dunk by Dibiamaka off a backdoor pass by Hix. Jeff Gary and BENNETT MOHN provided the spacing to space the floor, each hitting three 3-pointers to score 11 points. Dibiamaka stepped into the gaps, scoring 10 points and grabbing five rebounds.
The Hilltoppers outscored the Patriots 52-18 in the paint and 30-2 in points off turnovers, including a 16-8 advantage in fast-break points. St. Edward's shot 38-for-78 (48.7 percent) from the field, including 10-for-35 (28.6 percent) from deep.
St. Edward's improves to 2-1 with the win and will host the University of St. Francis (Ill.) for a pair of games to close out the week, playing on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
