'Roos Fall Short in Comeback Bid

SHERMAN, Texas - Jackson Rennie poured in 29 points, including 21 in the second half, as Austin College attempted to come back from a 23 point deficit but the 'Roos came up short in a 74-65 defeat against Texas Lutheran on Saturday evening in Hughey Gym. The 'Roos are now 3-5 overall and 1-1 in conference play.

Texas Lutheran built a double digit lead early, going on top 16-4 just over seven minutes into the action, and the Bulldogs would lead 25-7 midway through the opening half. The Bulldogs finished out the first half with a 43-25 lead, hitting 16-of-30 shots in the first 20 minutes and forcing the 'Roos into nine first half turnovers. TLU knocked down seven first half three pointers, while Austin College was just 2-of-9 from deep in the opening frame.

Austin College trailed 56-33 with 12:58 to play, but the 'Roos slowly started to chip away at the margin with Joshua Joe and Jason Jones Jr. combining for the team's next 12 points to make it 60-45 with 4:49 left on the clock. Rennie then scored 13 points in a four minute span as Austin College trimmed it to 67-63 with just under a minute left, but that's as close as things would get in the closing minutes. The Bulldogs knocked down free throws in the final moments of the game to push the margin back to 74-65 as the buzzer sounded to end the game.

Rennie made 9-of-16 shots overall and 6-of-12 from long range to get his 29 points off the bench, and Jones chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds. Joe finished with 10 points and six assists in the loss. Mason Wallace led TLU with 18 points and eight rebounds coming off the bench, and Xavier Phillips added 15 points while Jordan Dunn had 14.