SHERMAN, Texas – Twenty turnovers and a 34.5 shooting performance from the field were too much to overcome as the Southwestern University men's basketball team dropped its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference opener at Austin College 71-53.

Southwestern (2-5, 0-1 SCAC) appeared ready to run away with the game early in the first half when the Pirates held the Kangaroos scoreless for the first 7:43 of the game and holding onto a 9-0 lead with Jacob Hester leading the way with five points during that stretch.

Stephen Smith's layup with 7:54 left in the first half gave Southwestern a 17-9 lead and 2:10 of game clock later, Austin College (3-4, 1-0 SCAC) would tie the game at 18-18.

The Kangaroos would extend their lead to 24-18 on a 15-1 run covering just 4:44 of game action.

Down by a 33-23 count with less than a minute before the half, Southwestern would get a pair of free throws by Josh Jones and a layup by Preston Hannah before a \Kangaroos layup would make it 35-27 heading into the halftime break.

Southwestern had no answer for Austin College's Jason Jones Jr., who had 12 points, four rebounds, four steals and an assist in the first half.

A back-and-forth affair ensued throughout the greater portion of the second half with neither team putting together more than a 1-2 scoring play run.

Down 46-36 with 12:53 to go in the game, Smith converted a free thrown and then converted on a layup 53 seconds later to pull the Pirates to within 46-39.

Austin College would maintain a lead of 16-18 points for much of the rest of the second half on the Kangaroos route to their first SCAC win of the season/

Chris Smith Jr.'s eight points and nine rebounds led the way for the Pirates in both statistical categories on the night.

UP NEXT

Southwestern will look for its first SCAC win on the opening weekend of conference play when they conclude the weekend road series with a 6 p.m. CST contest at the University of Dallas on Saturday evening.