Jan. 15, 2005

Final Stats

ABILENE, Texas - Hardin-Simmons' men's basketball team won its fifth straight game and moved into third place in the American Southwest Conference West Division with an 85-73 win over Sul Ross State, Saturday afternoon at the Mabee Complex.

The Cowboys trailed most of the first half, until Tanner Kudrna hit a pair of 3-pointers later in the half and Jonas Fuller hit a pair of free throws with four seconds remaining in the half to make it 33-29 HSU at the break.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by James Peters and Calvin Nite to start the second half made it 39-31 with 18:09 to go in the game. SRSU's Justin Steward led a charge that tied the game at 55 with 10:34 to play in the contest.

On the next possession, Mardochee Jean hit a dunk and the Cowboys never trailed the rest of the games. Despite a porous 20-of-35 day at the free throw line, the Cowboys responded down the stretch hitting 8-of-10 in the final two minutes of the game, when the Lobos fouled to stop the clock.

The game was one of the better defensive games of the season for the Cowboys. James Peters, Tanner Kudrna and Jonas Fuller, limited Sidney Hooper to eight points on 2-for-12 shooting. He was second in the league in scoring at 22 points per contest. Not one Sul Ross starter was in double figures in scoring in the game and SRSU shot just 32.8 percent.

SRSU stayed in the contest by virtue of 23 offensive rebounds en route to a 49-37 advantage on the boards. The Lobos did not help themselves at the line as they made just 24 of 39 charity shots.

Zach Pickelman continued his big week with 19 points and seven rebounds. Calvin Nite added 16 points and Kudrna chipped in with 13. Senior Jonas Fuller fueled the Cowboys off the bench, scoring eight points.

The Lobos, the ASC preseason favorite and two-time defending champion, fell to 10-3 overall and 8-3 in league play. HSU improved to 10-4 overall and 8-3 in conference play.