Bulldogs Drop Overtime Heartbreaker to McMurry, 80-79

SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran men's basketball led or tied for the entire second half against future SCAC foe McMurry, but a driving layup with four seconds left was able to force overtime. Texas Lutheran trailed for the entire duration of overtime, but had an opportunity to win it in the final seconds, but the War Hawks were able to force a turnover with four seconds remaining to steal an 80-79 win in Seguin.

Texas Lutheran (1-11) was led by junior Semaj Edwards (Lanham, MD/Oak Hill) who had a career night, finishing with 29 points, seven rebounds, and three steals - all-career highs in his first start as a Bulldog. Easton Allen (New Braunfels/Marion) joined Edwards in double figures, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds off the bench for his third double-double of the season.

Freshman Teddy Tapken (Austin/Lake Travis) continued to come into his own as a collegiate player Thursday night, finishing with nine points and a career-high seven rebounds off the bench. Tapken would sink his first collegiate three as part of a 4-of-6 night. Tapken has missed just six shots over the course of the last eight games. Tapken falls just short of the needed threshold to register for the NCAA leaderboard, but is shooting 75.6 percent from the field, which would rank second in all of NCAA Division-III.

The War Hawks outscored the Bulldogs 45-40 over the course of the second half and overtime. McMurry would score 22 points off the Bulldogs 21 turnovers. The Bulldogs finished the game shooting 40.5% (30-of-74) and made 9-of-25 three-pointers (36%). 

Following a break for the holidays, the Bulldogs will return to action on Friday, December 29 as they return to SCAC play by welcoming the Austin College 'Roos to Seguin. Tip-off is set for 5:30 PM at Memorial Gymnasium and will be streamed on TLU+. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.