DALLAS — St. Edward's men's basketball opened up the South Central Regional Crossover Tournament at Dallas Baptist University with an 80-52 win against the Colorado Christian University Cougars. 
 
Senior guard BLAKE NIELSEN set the tone with a layup on the Hilltoppers' first possession, scoring seven of St. Edward's first 11 points on his way to a game-high 24 in opening an 11-7 lead in a back-and-forth start.
 
MASON COURTNEY and CONOR MCMANUS followed 3-pointers of their own, as St. Edward's opened 3-for-4 from deep, and freshman RYDER BRADLEY added a reverse layup to expand the lead.
 
Colorado Christian pulled within 19-13 at the second media timeout and continued chipping away, holding SEU scoreless for more than three minutes to cut the deficit to 24-22 with eight minutes left in the half. Nielsen broke the stall with another 3-pointer, part of his game-high 14 first-half points.
 
JAMISON KAY ended another drought with a hook shot, and Courtney connected from deep followed by a transition layup to restore momentum, capping a 12-0 run and forcing a CCU timeout as the Hilltoppers surged ahead 34-22.
 
Colorado Christian answered out of the break with two free throws from Joshua Reid, but Courtney matched it with a layup to keep the margin intact. After another timeout, DONOVAN SANTORO knocked down a hook shot and LUCA BAREI added a jumper before CCU's Zachary Reed scored on a quick layup. Nielsen closed the half with a 3-pointer to send SEU to the locker room up 44-28.
 
Nielsen led all scorers with 14 points and four assists, while Courtney added 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including 2-for-4 from three. Colorado Christian entered halftime shooting under 40 percent from the field and just over 15 percent from deep.
 
St. Edward's wasted no time extending its lead after the break, as Nielsen intercepted Colorado Christian's opening possession and drilled a 3-pointer to start the second half. He followed with a layup on the next trip down, pushing his total to 18 points and stretching the Hilltoppers' lead to 20.
 
Both teams traded possessions before Nielsen drew a foul and sank two free throws, reaching 20 points and giving SEU a 22-point cushion. The Cougars momentarily halted the run with a pair of free throws, with Bradley answering with back-to-back 3-pointers. The freshman moved to 13 points, trailing only Nielsen on the scoresheet.
 
CCU added two more free throws before Reid finally broke the drought with a layup, cutting the margin to 58-36 with 10 minutes left. Santoro responded with a 3-pointer, and Rob Conrad followed with an easy finish at the rim. Colorado Christian's Reid hit a 3-pointer — his 11th point of the night — prompting a timeout.
 
SAM MCKINNEY delivered one of the half's biggest moments with a block, followed by a slam dunk, though CCU answered with a deep 3-pointer from Pierce Bazil. Santoro knocked down another 3 in response as St. Edward's entered the media timeout leading 70-46 with 6:05 remaining.
 
Colorado Christian held the Hilltoppers scoreless for more than two minutes before Nielsen ended the drought with a floater, pushing him to 24 points. Bradley added another 3-pointer — giving him 16 points on 6-for-7 from the field — before the Hilltoppers emptied the bench with BRAEDEN SPINDEN, WONDER KAHOZI, SHUG JINKAL, and MAX FILDERMAN checking in with 2:30 left and a 77-52 lead.
 
Strong defense closed out the night, highlighted by a steal from Jinkal that set up a 3-pointer from Spinden to seal the 80-52 win.
 
The Hilltoppers remain in Dallas and will return to the Burg Center for their game tomorrow against Colorado Mesa University at 5:00 PM — before returning home to play Our Lady of the Lake University on Tuesday.