Bulldogs Sink Pirates 69-63 in Regular Season Finale

SEGUIN, Texas -- Freshman forward Teddy Tapken (Austin/Lake Travis) scored a game-high 19 points as the Texas Lutheran men's basketball program outlasted Southwestern, 69-63, in their regular season finale at Memorial Gymnasium Friday night.

Easton Allen (New Braunfels/Marion) added 15 points on 4-of-13 shooting for the Bulldogs (6-19, 5-11 SCAC), who swept the regular season series against the Pirates. Kris Jones (Port Aransas/Port Aransas) matched his career-high with 14 points off the bench.

The two teams failed to separate in the first half as the first half saw eight ties and eight lead changes as Southwestern would take a narrow 32-30 lead into the halftime break.

Texas Lutheran leaned heavily on their freshman big man in the second half as Tapken would score 12 of the Bulldogs 39 second half points. Tapken would tie the game at 50 with five minutes remaining and would carry a slim two-point lead with 2:33 remaining. TLU would out score the Pirates 14-10 in the final 2:30 to secure a win in their final game of the season.

The Bulldogs  - a team picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll - conclude the 2023-24 season with a 6-19 record, going 5-11 in the SCAC to claim eighth place in the conference in the regular season.

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