Wallace Beats the Buzzer as Bulldogs Top Centenary, 68-67

SEGUIN, Texas -- Freshman Mason Wallace (San Antonio/Judson) capped his career night with a game-winner as his layup with 5.17 seconds remaining lifted Texas Lutheran to a 68-67 victory Saturday night.

Mase's game-winner, as heard on @kwed with Chris Austin on the call ��

Incredible. Made for the moment. #TooLiveU | #PupsUp pic.twitter.com/HFLWXpytYa

— TLU Bulldogs (@tluathletics) December 18, 2022

The Bulldogs improve to 7-4 on the year and 3-1 in conference play while Centenary is 9-3 and 3-1 in the SCAC.

Wallace had a career-high 24 points and matched a career-high of two blocks while tallying a team-high seven rebounds. Xavier Phillips (Austin/Dripping Springs) joined Wallace in double figures with 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists off the bench for the Bulldogs.

The game was a rough, close SCAC battle. Texas Lutheran finished shooting 47 percent from the field and over 53 percent in the second half. Texas Lutheran and Centenary had 35 rebounds each with TLU maintaining a 6-5 advantage in offensive rebounds and 9-6 advantage in second chance points.

Centenary came out on fire taking an early 21-8 lead over TLU behind a barrage of threes from the Gents. Texas Lutheran would claw back into the game and keep the game from getting away from them, but would trail 37-23 at the break. Phillips led the Bulldogs with seven points in the first half.

In the second half, Centenary took a 25 point lead - their largest lead of the night - with just over 12 minutes to play. From there, Texas Lutheran would gradually chip away at the Gents lead - outscoring them 22-7 over the course of the next 12 minutes before tying the game 65-all with 56 seconds remaining following a second chance, and-one lay-up from Isaac Orozco (Helotes/O'Connor).

Wallace would split a pair of free throws to give Texas Lutheran its first lead since the early moments of the game. Centenary would nail two free throws to take a 67-66 lead with 11 seconds left. Wallace would drive the length of the floor to convert a driving, spinning lay-up and the Bulldogs press held and forced a fadeaway shot at the buzzer from the Gents that would come up short to seal the improbable 25-point comeback.

The reaction >>>

What a moment.#TooLiveU | #PupsUp https://t.co/fMg8uPkZti pic.twitter.com/bthTxJPmbA

— TLU Men's Basketball (@TLUbasketball) December 18, 2022

Up next, Texas Lutheran will break for Christmas and will return to action on Thursday, Dec. 29 when they travel to Austin to take on Concordia - hoping to avenge an early season non-conference loss in the Paul Peak Classic. Tip-off is set for 3 PM at Concordia Fieldhouse.All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.