-Bryce Hayes, TLU Sports Information
(Colorado Springs, Colo.) — After trailing by as many as eight points on the road at Colorado College in front of an electric crowd, Texas Lutheran showed a ton of heart, coming back to take a two-point lead on Jamir Mason’s mid-range jumper with 2.3 seconds to play. But Scott Cunningham delivered a heartbreaking dagger to the Bulldogs – nailing a three as time expired – giving Colorado College a 75-74 victory.
Colorado College (6-16, 4-9 SCAC) opened the second half pacing the Bulldogs as their lead hovered around their six-point halftime advantage.
The Bulldogs (6-13, 4-7 SCAC) remained poised and slowly chipped away making the final 13 minutes a back-and-forth contest.
Xavier Phillips scored all 10 of his points in the second half to keep the Bulldogs alive.
Jamir Mason hit a mid-range jumper with 2.3 seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs a 74-72 lead, but Cunningham and the Tigers would go the length of the floor to hit the buzzer beater to thwart the Bulldogs.
Riley Fornerette finished with 16 points – making all three of his three-point attempts – to lead the Bulldogs, one point off of his career high.
Garrett Prince scored seven of his nine points in the second half and finished with a game-high five blocks defensively.
Sebastian Andrade and Isaac Orozco also reached double-figures – scoring 14 and 11 points respectively.
The Bulldogs shot 41% from the field and made three out of their final four shots down the stretch.
Colorado College shot 44.8% for the game and had 14 second chance points to the Bulldogs four which proved to be pivotal. The Tigers avenged an 87-53 road loss to TLU on Dec. 18.
The Bulldogs’ stretch of five road games in 11 days continues on Wednesday, as they travel to San Antonio for a rematch with first place Trinity (TX).
The Tigers (18-3, 10-2) edged TLU 78-76 in the first meeting on Jan. 29. The Bulldogs have four SCAC games by four points or less.
The TLU-Trinity tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Calgaard Gymnasium. All streaming and stat links can be found on tlubulldogs.com. The game will air live on KWED 1580-AM and Seguintoday.com as part of a men’s and women’s doubleheader, with pre-game coverage at 5:50.