Men's Hoops Cruises Past Rust

Photo by Joe Fusco | D3Photography.com
Photo by Joe Fusco | D3Photography.com

SHERMAN, Texas – The Austin College men's basketball team matched season highs in assists and three pointers on its way to a 104-85 victory over Rust College on Sunday afternoon. The 'Roos finish the regular season with an overall record of 15-10.

The 'Roos had one of their biggest offensive performances of the season, shooting 52.6% from the field and knocking down 11-of-25 three pointers, and as a team Austin College handed out 29 assists, including a career-best six helpers from Christian Chiles. The 'Roos jumped out to a 12-4 lead early on and never really looked back after that.

After Rust cut it to a 16-15 game with 14:44 left in the opening half, Josh Dickerman ignited a 16-2 run with a trio of three pointers to help push it to a 32-17 game with 10:01 remaining before halftime. The lead grew to 42-24 on a three from Alan Sullivan and a bucket by Cedric Hudson, though the Bearcats would close the half strong to make it a 52-43 game heading into the break.

Austin College scored the first nine points of the second half, capped by a trey from Sullivan to make it 61-43 with 16:45 left to play, and after the Bearcats came back to make it a 61-50 game less than two minutes later, the 'Roos would use a 13-4 run to extend the lead to 74-54. Rust was unable to get the margin under 14 the rest of the way, and Austin College led by as much as 27 when John Pass scored to make it 95-68 with 4:05 to play.

The 'Roos would coast from there, with a breakaway dunk from Hudson pushing Austin College over the century mark for the third time this season. The 'Roos shot 71% in the opening 10 minutes of the second half as they pulled away, and finished the half shooting 56% from the field as a team.

Dickerman finished with 16 points, hitting 4-of-4 three pointers, and handed out five assists to lead the 'Roos. Hudson scored 14 points and grabbed six boards, and Pass added 13 points. Jeremy Swisher chipped in 11 points and four assists, and Sullivan had 10 points and five rebounds.

Austin College heads to Shreveport, Louisiana this weekend for the SCAC Tournament, where they'll take on No. 3-seed Southwestern University on Friday afternoon.

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