'Roo Men Run Away From Texas Lutheran

SHERMAN, Texas - Michael Holland poured in 26 points to lead four 'Roos in double figures as the Austin College men's basketball team topped Texas Lutheran 94-79 on Saturday evening in Hughey Gym. The 'Roos are now 14-9 overall and 11-5 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play.

The 'Roos fell behind 8-2 early on but a bucket by Holland and back-to-back threes from Kameron Hill squared things up at 13 apiece, and the 'Roos would use a 12-4 run to grab a 25-17 lead with 8:56 left in the first half. The Bulldogs fought back to even things up at 29 before Austin College got five quick points from Holland and a three from Roland to help them build a 46-38 advantage with 46 seconds left before the break. Texas Lutheran would draw a foul on a three pointer shortly before time expired in the half and knock down all three free throws to trim it to a 46-41 game at halftime.

Austin College came out hot to start the second half and took a 59-43 lead after a three and a midrange jumper from Roland, and a three-point-play by Justice Mercadel made it 64-47 with 13:16 left in the game. The 'Roos maintained their cushion for the next several minutes and a trey from Hill made it 82-66, but TLU began to chip away at the deficit and eventually cut it to 84-75 with 3:42 remaining. That's as close as things would get, however, as the 'Roos scored nine unanswered to make it 93-75 with under two minutes left to put the game out of reach.

Holland hit 10-of-15 shots and 3-of-4 from long distance to get his 26 points, adding five rebounds and four assists. Roland hit 3-of-5 from deep to get to 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds, and Hill went 3-of-5 from three on his way to 11. Mercadel chipped in 10 points and seven assists in the win.

Austin College wraps up the regular season next weekend when they head to Shreveport to take on Centenary and Houston to face off against St. Thomas.