Huston-Tillotson turns in a strong second half to pull away from Concordia University
Austin - Being picked to finish second in the West Division of the American Southwest Conference is quite an accomplishment for Concordia University but along with that comes opponents looking to prove they can contend with such a highly rated team. Saturday's game was a good example of just that as Huston-Tillotson turned up the intensity in the second half and pulled away for a 116-102 win.
Fans were treated to a high scoring performance in the first half with the result being a 60-60 tie heading into the locker room at halftime. Both teams had the nets sizzling in the first half as Concordia shot 52% from the field and 57% from three-point land while Huston-Tillotson downed an impressive 63% of their shots from the field and 46% from behind the arc.
"They were picked to finish second and they are a really good team," said Huston-Tillotson head coach Curtis Jones. "They shot very well; they can really shoot the ball."
The first half was fast paced with both teams hot shooting keeping things close. The largest lead for either team was just seven points. Each team seemed to feed off the others high octane offensive energy and when one looked as though they were about to make a run the other would fight right back.
Jones was determined to not let the Concordia shooters have their way in the second half and his halftime defensive adjustments paid off with several turnovers that led to easy baskets. Feeding off their defensive success, Huston-Tillotson put together an 8-0 run with 14 minutes left as they began to build a double digit lead.
"We can't shoot our way to victory," said Jones. "This week all we did was work on defense and tonight I thought the guys really brought the intensity."
Concordia would pull to within seven points later in the second half but a rash of turnovers and a sudden cold spell shooting the basketball led to their demise. Huston-Tillotson stayed red hot in the second half. Benefiting from several fast break dunks, they built an insurmountable lead and a staggering 62 percent shooting from inside the arc to go along with 43 percent from behind the arc. Concordia managed only 38% from the field and 36% from behind the three-point line in the second half.
Concordia's Joel McDonald had a spectacular night shooting the ball as he poured in 21 points and teammate Brad Walker chipped in with 10-of-17 from the field for a total of 20-points to go along with 10 rebounds. Huston-Tillotson was led by D'Mond Grismore with 26-points, several of those coming on dunks, and 13 rebounds. Huston Tillotson's Robert Hartfield led all scorers with his 32 points on the night.
Concordia's next game will be at St. Edwards Friday November 21, 2008 at 7:00 PM. Huston-Tillotson will be against Texas State Wednesday November 19, 2008 at 7:00 PM.
Score by Periods 1 2 Total
Huston-Tillotson.... 60 56 -116
Concordia Texas... 60 42 -102
