Cold-shooting Hounds bested by Hilltoppers

AUSTIN, Texas — Dorian Lopez had 31 points and 10 rebounds, and St. Edward’s showed they were more than comfortable shooting anywhere on their home court in a 96-83 win Friday night to open the St. Edward’s Thanksgiving Classic.

Cory McKendree added 16 points, James Taylor 15 and Sean Phillips 14 for the Hilltoppers (5-1), who shot 56 percent from the field and 14-of-24 from beyond the arc in a game they led for the final 38:29.

The visiting Greyhounds (3-2), led by Marquis Thompson’s 15 points, outrebounded the Hilltoppers 38-20. But they got beat in pretty much every other category, with the biggest discrepancies behind the 3-point and free-throw lines.

The Greyhounds shot just 2-for-15 from 3-point land, while St. Edward’s got seven treys just from Lopez. The Hilltoppers went 14-of-20, while the Greyhounds got just 11 attempts on the night — with four of their five double-figure scorers combining to shoot just one.

Thompson shot 7-of-15 to lead the Greyhounds, but Arcaim Lallemand and Zach Parker weren’t far behind with 14 points each. Jamani Pierce scored 13, while Maurice Coleman added 11. Coleman had all five of the Greyhound free throw makes on six attempts.

St. Edward’s had double-figure leads throughout the game, but did have to sweat out a late Greyhound rally. Eastern trailed just 77-75 after a Parker jumper with 6:17 to play, but the Greyhounds managed just two turnovers and a pair of missed free throws on their next three trips as the Hilltoppers built the lead back to nine.

St. Edward’s closed it out in the final minutes, with Lopez and Sean Phillips hitting 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to make it 92-79 with 2:23 to go.

The Greyhounds return to action at the Classic today against Dallas Baptist, with tipoff scheduled for 1 p.m.