DALLAS, Texas – The Dallas Christian College men's basketball team hung onto an 80-71 victory over Southwestern Adventist University on Tuesday night on its home court. It was the third straight victory over an NCCAA Division II Opponent and second at home.
The Crusaders shot a blistering 60 percent (15-25) from the field in the first half and were able to finish 49.1 percent overall. This included a season-most 22 made free throws and season-most 27 free throw attempts.
DCC never trailed in the game, but never seemed to be able to get a comfortable distance on an athletic Knights team that was receiving votes in the NCCAA Top 10 Power Rankings as of the release earlier that afternoon. The Knights also had beaten NCCAA Division I programs, Baptist Bible College and College of the Ozarks on DCC's floor during the DCC New Year's Classic a month ago.
The Crusaders largest lead of the game was 15 early in the second half and they were ahead by 10 as late as five minutes in regulation. However, SWAU used a 10-2 run to slice the gap to 73-71 with 1:50 remaining. On the next possession, DCC's
Jason Makayabo got a shot from the just inside the arc above the free throw line to bounce off the back of the rim and get the friendly roll from the front to make it a two possession game. The Knights missed on an inside look and
Tyjuan Battles found a streaking
Tilyr Hobson for a fastbreak layup to make it 77-71 and 56 seconds left. A missed trey by the visitors led to a defensive rebound by
Joseph Allen, who converted on both free throws to help extend and seal the victory. His brother
Jairus Allen split at the line to wrap up the score.
STARTING UNIT HOLDS STRONG
The Crusaders starting lineup stood out in the statistics with the entire quintet notching double figures led by Battles with 18 points. He also had seven rebounds, three assists, and tied a game-high four steals. Hobson followed with 14 points and earned his second straight double-double with a game-high 10 boards.
Jairus Allen had 13 points and added four boards, two assists, and two blocks. Makayabo notched 12 points, and
Joseph Allen ended with 11 points and eight boards.
SHARP AT THE LINE
They say a game can be determined by free throws, and the Crusaders made sure to be on the correct end of this one with their most frequented trip of the campaign.
Joseph Allen had the most makes (5), and was perfect along with Makayabo (4-4),
Micah Tucker (4-4), and
Jalen Perez (1-1).
BLOCK STREAK ENDS
An interested stat to follow was
Joseph Allen's streak of games with at least one blocked shot at 16 games. This dated back to December 1 at Manhattan Christian College and included games against NCAA Division I schools: Tarleton State University, Northwestern State University, University of the Incarnate Word, UTSA, and Texas A&M University. The 6-4 freshman recorded a personal-best four blocks in several games during this span to help him easily post the team-leading 25 overall, which is only countable games.
HOT START AND KEEPING UP WITH THE SPEEDY KNIGHTS
Battles had the first five points helped ignite a 9-0 start for the Crusaders in less than two minutes after the opening tip. SWAU responded with nine of the next 11 points to make it a two-point game at 16:22.
It was a game where the Crusaders just had to keep scoring, as the Knights proved they could get on a run and find points at a hasty pace. However, the visitors never came closer than two points, as each time that happened a DCC run would help extend the lead back to multiple possessions. The advantage reached double-digits with under a minute, as
Jairus Allen scored on a layup. The Knights cut the score to 42-31 after Sitivi Fehoko made a jumper at the buzzer.
In the second half, the Crusaders got a offensive rebound tip-in by
Joseph Allen and Battles added a jumper to open the largest lead of the game at 15 points (46-31) That margin got matched two and a half minutes later, as DCC worked to stay up double-digits.
SWAU cut the deficit to six at 13:13 on a jumper by Sitivi. Battles had a made jumper and then steal that led to a foul where he was good on his free throws to answer the threat. At 8:55, Hobson made a layup after collecting an offensive rebound to make it 63-55 and prevent the score going beneath six again. At 7:25,
Jairus Allen converted on an old-fashioned three-point play to open the lead back to nine. Perez had one of those after a theft to make it a double-digit margin again. The Crusaders usually rely on three-pointers, but only had four makes in the game, so they relied on most of their scoring from free throws and fastbreak points, which ended up at 18. At 5:05, Tucker had two free throws make it a 71-61 lead and then the next four minutes saw the Knights surge to a 10-2 run. DCC's staring unit was able to get back on the floor in crunch time and withstood the surge for the team's biggest win of the season.
OTHER NOTES
Dallas Christian improves to 4-11 and 3-4 against Southwest Regional teams. The Knights fell to 10-8 and 3-2.
The Crusaders held a 25-19 edge on points off turnovers including 18-9 in the opening stanza. They also were good on points in the paint at 40-24. Both teams matched their per-half totals.
The most telling stat was an 18-10 edge on points from the fast break. The Crusaders held a 10-2 favorable difference in the final 20 minutes.
SWAU was led by Jason Garcia with 22 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Alain Aviles contributed 14 of the bench's 18 points. As a team, the Knights shot 37.7 percent, made seven treys, and were 18-for-26 at the line.
REMATCH
These teams will be ready to do it again on Saturday, February 12, at Keene, Texas. The game was rescheduled from Feb. 5 because of travel conditions and such a late start time. This tip will be at 7 p.m.
"Dallas Christian educates and mentors students to be people of influence engaging in their calling to the work of Christ in the church and in the world."
