Men's Basketball Beats HTU for First Conference Win

AUSTIN, TEXAS (Dec. 9, 2023) – The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) men's basketball team downed Huston-Tillotson University (HTU) 80-76 on Saturday. The Saints earned their first Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) win of the season to move to 1-2 and 4-5 overall. The Rams drop to 2-7 overall and 0-3 in conference.

Head Coach Chris Dial said, "The players overcame quite a bit of adversity in this win and I was really proud of them for showing resilience. We were shorthanded with injuries and struggled with rebounds early, but we stepped up the intensity, effort and energy. Xavier Purnell played excellent off the bench tonight, especially in the first half. Paul Minjoth started knocking down big shots and provided us with great rebounding. I'm proud we recorded our first conference win of the season and I'm looking forward to two tough matchups next week."

History

The Saints were 20-4 against the Rams prior to the matchup.

Basics

The Saints' offense clicked on Saturday in a victory over HTU. The Saints scored 47 points in the first half backed by 52.9 percent shooting from the field and marking 45.5 percent from three-point range. They forced 11 turnovers and tallied seven assists. Xavier Purnell totaled 14 points in the half and OLLU headed to the break up by eight points. 

The Rams made a comeback attempt late in the second half. They cut the lead to three points with 23 seconds remaining and called a timeout. HTU was forced to foul and Purnell hit one free throw, which would prove to be enough as the Saints lead grew to four points. The Rams missed a three-point shot with six seconds left and the 80-76 score held. Five Saints players finished with double-digit scoring.

Offensive/defensive standouts

Trey Law led the Saints with 16 points. Lonzo Rand finished with six rebounds. Rob Gil tallied nine assists for the Saints.

Kon Chol led HTU with 18 points. Charles Hallmon grabbed a team-high 18 rebounds. James Harrison led the Rams with six assists.

Inside the box

OLLU combined for 30-of-64 shooting for 46.9 percent, 9-of-20 from three-point range for 45 percent and 11-of-19 from the free-throw line for 57.9 percent. HTU shot 24-of-69 for 34.8 percent, 10-of-35 three pointers for 28.6 percent and 18-of-26 from the free-throw line for 69.2 percent.

The Saints grabbed 31 rebounds while HTU collected 56. The Saints committed 10 turnovers and forced 19. 

Up next

The Saints take on No. 7-ranked LSU-Shreveport at home on Dec. 14 at 7:30 p.m.