Another night on the road and another frantic finish for the Schreiner University men's basketball team, but a maddeningly familiar result — a 3-point loss to host Texas Lutheran on Tuesday night.
The Mountaineers had opportunities to force overtime on Tuesday night, but their rally fell flat in the closing seconds in a 65-62 loss to Texas Lutheran. The Mountaineers have now dropped their first two games in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference — and both losses were tight.
With 16 seconds left, Jalen Ned hit a 3-pointer to cut Texas Lutheran's lead to 64-62, but that was a close as the Mountaineers would get. Ned scored five of his nine points in the final minute.
Alex Dehoyos and Bronson Evans scored 13 points each for the Mountaineers. The little things doomed the Mountaineers, including missing five free-throws, while Texas Lutheran was 13-of-15 from the free-throw line.
The Mountaineers have now played in five games decided by fewer than 10 points and are 1-4 in those games. Schreiner is 2-7 on the season and has lost five consecutive games, including two exhibition matchups against Division I programs last month.
One area of concern as the Mountaineers move through the 2022 season is from the perimeter, where 3-point shooting has become almost non-existent. In their last two games, the Mountaineers have shot 17% from 3-point range — 7-of-29. Schreiner's opponents have knocked down three times that number in those games.
The Mountaineers will have the next nine days off before hitting the road in Spokane, Wash. against Whitworth College on Dec. 17.