SHERMAN, Texas – The Austin College men's basketball team was tied with 16 minutes left, but a 20-7 run midway through the second half put Southwestern ahead for good as the 'Roos fell 89-71 on Friday night. The 'Roos are now 13-9 overall and 3-9 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play.

Alan Sullivan and Brian Baehl came out red hot for the 'Roos, combining to score 24 of the team's first 28 points. Southwestern answered each basket, however, with Benjamin Stiver and Connor Kim knocking down threes to keep things tight. The Pirates would go on top 30-28 on a three from Karrey Sanders with 6:48 left in the opening half, and the lead would grow to five before Austin College trimmed it to a 42-41 game at the break.

Sullivan continued his hot shooting in the second half, scoring eight of the team's first 12 points, but after things became square at 50 apiece, the Pirates would use a big run to go ahead 70-57 with 8:01 left to play. Austin College got the lead down to nine points three times over the next few minutes, but six free throws for the Pirates in the final minute of action helped push it to an 18 point final margin.

Sullivan finished the game connecting on 8-of-13 shots overall and 2-of-3 from long range, scoring 20 points to pace the 'Roos. Baehl finished with 13 points and four assists as the only other Austin College player to reach double figures in the scoring column. Patrick Johnson scored nine points and came away with four steals, and Austin Freet pulled down a team-high nine rebounds in the loss.

Zachary Whitlock scored 22 points to lead Southwestern, while Ryan Ogden added 18 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Chris Molina added 15 and Chris Lee chipped in 10 for Southwestern.

Austin College will be looking to bounce back tomorrow when they host Texas Lutheran at 4:00 p.m.

Austin College athletic teams participate as a member of the NCAA Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.