Box Score Abilene Christian pulled away late and held off several late TSU charges to claim a 75-68 win Monday evening inside the H&PE Arena.
Texas Southern never trailed from start-to-finish to open the first half as Zytarious Mortle scored six points within the first five minutes for an early 12-4 lead. ACU would eventually begin to find the basket over the next few minutes but TSU stayed hot from the field to extend its lead to 19-9 with 10:49 remaining. However, the early surge by TSU began to wear off as the Wildcats responded with a 9-0 run over the next 3:25 to creep back into the contest 19-18. Despite the charge, TSU would regroup offensively and up the margin to 27-23 after hitting three of its next four baskets. The Wildcats would manage to tie it up late in the first half but the Tigers did just enough defensively to old them off en route to a 36-33 halftime lead.
ACU would knot it once again at 36-all early in the second half but a 7-0 Tiger run upped the margin to 43-36 with 16:51 left. TSU would maintain a seven-point margin nearly a minute later but the Wildcats would respond again with a 10-4 surge to get within 49-48 with 12:24 left. The Wildcats would claim their first lead of the day (51-49) with 12:02 left on a three-pointer by Zy Wright followed by a TSU turnover which led to a free throw and a 52-49 lead entering the under 12 media timeout.
Mortle would end a nearly three-minute TSU scoring drought with a driving layup to trim the deficit to 52-51 with 10:45 left but the Wildcats responded with a three-pointer from the top of the key to lead 55-51. An ACU goaltending call on the ensuing possession kept TSU within striking distance as they trailed 55-53 at the 9:28 mark.
Fifteen seconds later, ACU's Rich Smith converted a three-point play for its largest lead of the day (58-53). TSU would work themselves back into the game via the free throw line as Oumar Koureissi hit a pair free throws on two separate occasions to cut the deficit to 58-55 entering the under eight-minute timeout. Trailing 59-55 after an ACU free throw with 7:56 left, TSU relied on its offensive rebounding to stay close as Alex Anderson converted a putback and the free throw with 7:33 remaining to trail 59-58 but the Wildcats once again found ways to stay ahead using the free throw line to lead 61-58 with 6:55 left.
TSU would once again trail 61-60 after a pair of Anderson free throws with 6:22 left but ACU countered with a driving layup followed by a TSU turnover which led to a pair of free throws and a 65-60 deficit with 5:37 remaining. With 5:06 left, TSU's Bryce Roberts cut it to 65-62 after a step back jumper but a critical late turnover a minute later led to a three-point play by ACU and a 68-62 deficit with 3:51 remaining.
With 2:55 left, TSU's Troy Hupstead returned TSU to the scoreboard with a free throw followed by a TSU steal which led to a driving dunk by Koureissi and a 68-65 deficit. However, ACU would once again get the ball deep in the paint and drew another foul which led to a pair of free throws and a 70-65 lead with 2:22 left.
The Wildcats would lose control of the ball with 1:34 left and TSU went for the gusto but misfired on its three-point attempt. ACU would capitalize on the ensuing possession with a jumper for a 72-67 lead. Mortle would respond with a layup to cut the score to 72-67 with 48 seconds left. The TSU defense stood its ground on ACU's next possession as they drew a five-second call to get the ball back but couldn't make it a one-possession contest with only 1-of-2 free throws made.
Trailing 72-68 after the free throw, TSU was forced to foul and ACU took full advantage from the free throw line as they hit three of its next four to seal the win.
Mortle and Roberts led the way with 16 each while Hupstead scored 12 points. Mortle also grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
TSU is back in action Tuesday, Dec. 30 against Huston-Tillotson at 6:30 p.m. inside the H&PE Arena.
