Despite career performances, Schreiner basketball programs find themselves in a conference hole

Whatever hope the Schreiner University men had of winning the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-season basketball championship slipped away last weekend.

The Mountaineers, who had lost three conference games by a combined three points, got run over at the University of Dallas on Friday night and Saturday in Sherman at Austin College. The tough part for Schreiner is they face four final games that the Mountaineers are 1-3 against.

Dallas overcame a monumental effort by Schreiner’s big men — Kamden Ross and Cristian Rodriguez. Ross scored a career-high 36 points and added 20 rebounds. It was Ross’s fifth consecutive game with double-figure scoring and rebound. Rodriguez came off the bench to score 20 — his fourth 20-point effort of the season. It still wasn’t enough.

Dallas shot 46% from the field, and the Crusaders’ guards dominated by outscoring the Mountaineers 56-31. Schreiner’s perimeter game was non-existent, converting just three of its 18 3-pointers.

Dallas came into the game being weirdly streaky, with an upset win over second-place St. Thomas and then getting thrashed by Centenary the following night. On Saturday, Trinity crushed Dallas by 31 points, 97-66.

With the 79-70 overtime loss to Austin on Saturday, the Mountaineers are tilting toward being a low seed in the conference tournament next month in Shreveport, Louisiana.

The Mountaineers were outscored 14-5 in the overtime period. Ross led Schreiner with 19 points and 14 rebounds — his sixth consecutive double-double. Schreiner gets the week off before facing visiting and SCAC-leading Trinity on Feb. 6. The Mountaineers host Colorado College on Feb. 10.

The Schreiner University Mountaineers’ women’s basketball team had its four-game winning streak stopped on Friday by the University of Dallas. They followed their male counterparts with a tight loss in Sherman against host Austin College.

The losses put the Mountaineers at 6-6 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and tied for fourth in the standings. The Mountaineers are still in the hunt for a spot in the SCAC tournament.

Against Dallas, Demauria Miles led the Mountaineers with 14 points. However, the Mountaineers faced a 14-point deficit at halftime against the Crusaders, who lost on Saturday against conference-leading Trinity. The Mountaineers couldn’t overcome the first-half deficit despite a third-quarter surge, following 82-62. Madison Parham had 12 points and 12 rebounds.