On Friday night, the Schreiner Mountaineers let the game get away from them early, and on Saturday afternoon, it was the opposite outcome — slipping away late.
The Mountaineers hung around for the first half against visiting Hardin-Simmons, but the second half was a different story against the Cowboys.
Hardin-Simmons shot 56% from the field in the second half and pushed Schreiner aside, 85-63. It was the second consecutive loss for Schreiner in its opening weekend, while Hardin-Simmons moved to 2-0.
"I thought starting the game, we really brought the fight to them," Schreiner coach Marwan Elrakabawy said. "They've got some guys, where I'm like 'have you all graduate yet?'''
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A lot of the guys may have been on the Hardin-Simmons bench. The Cowboys dominated Schreiner off the bench, 51-18. When the Mountaineers turned it over, Hardin-Simmons took advantage by outscoring them 28-1.
And the Mountaineers could never find a rhythm from 3-point range. Schreiner was 8-of-29 from 3-point-range, including shooting just 21% in the first half. The Mountaineers are 14-of-48 from 3-point range in their first two games.
Compared to Friday night's high-scoring affair — a 99-96 loss to McMurry — the Mountaineers got limited production from their two leading scorers. Freshman Kamden Ross ran into foul trouble, fouling out early in the second half, and was limited to eight points after a 24-point night in the season opener. Darian Gibson, who scored 21 on Friday, was held to seven.
That left the offensive load to guards Alex Dehoyos, who scored 10, and Mateus Reichert-Blume, who added 11. The Mountaineers did get a boost from forward Joshua Alcocer with eight points and seven rebounds off the bench.
But it was the size of Hardin-Simmons that seemed to bother the Mountaineers. The Cowboys could rotate in 6-foot-10 centers Trey Wooldridge and Austin Brewer, who scored 10 points off the bench. The Cowboys outscored the Mountaineers 50-24 in the paint.
The Mountaineers return to action at 5 p.m. on Tuesday by playing host to the University of Texas-Dallas.
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