A horrible first-half start doomed Schreiner University's men's basketball team on Saturday night in a 99-88 loss to LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas.
Shooting just 33% from the field, the Mountaineers trailed Letourneau 47-30 at halftime. LeTourneau opened the game with a 13-2 run — a nearly six-minute stretch where Schreiner scored once on an Alex Dehoyos jumper in the paint.
After years of mediocrity, LeTourneau has emerged as one of Texas's best small university programs, with five consecutive winning seasons, including three 20-win efforts and two NCAA tournament appearances.
LeTourneau led by as many as 26 points in the second half before Schreiner was able to claw its way back and make it close. However, the early deficit doomed the Mountaineers.
Dehoyos led the Mountaineers for a third consecutive game in scoring with 20 points. This was a breakout game for first-year player Jalen Ned, a 6-foot-2 guard from New Orleans, scoring a season-high 17 points. The Mountaineers also welcomed back Bronson Evans, who missed the first four games of the season. Evans added 18 points off the bench.
The Mountaineers are now 1-4 on the season, and things won't get any easier. Schreiner faces Sul Ross State in Alpine on Saturday. Sul Ross is 1-1 on the season but pushed perennially tough Trinity in a season-opening loss.
Women's Basketball
Lewis and Clark 61, Schreiner 58
Schreiner University women's basketball team couldn't hold off Lewis and Clark University in the final minutes of the fourth quarter in a 61-58 loss Saturday night in Salem, Ore.
Lewis and Clark took a 53-52 lead with 2:11 left in the game on a free throw by Delsie Johnson and then held off the Mountaineers (1-3).
This was not the prettiest of games. Both teams shot poorly; Schreiner finished the night shooting 32%, including a woeful 15% from 3-point range. Schreiner's two big scorers — Gabby Ivarra and Josline Hernandez — were limited to a combined 18 points.
The Mountaineers did get 11 points off the bench from Demauria Miles, who hadn't scored a point this season until Saturday night. Miles, a first-year player from Hebron, Texas, was 3-of-8 from the field in a season-high 18 minutes.
Nariyah Buggs, who has started all four games, scored 10 points for the Mountaineers.
Schreiner returns home for a three-game homestand starting Friday when the Mountaineers play host to Huston-Tillotson at 6 p.m.
