LSUS holds off SAGU comeback

Pilots shoot 57% to cage the Lions

Ten three-pointers not enough to sink River Runners

SHREVEPORT, Louisiana -- In spite of several scoring runs, the men’s basketball team from Southwestern Assemblies of God University came up short each time to a hot-shooting LSU-Shreveport team, 83-69, on Monday night.

Each time they were rebuffed by a Pilots team who seemed to have an answer each time.

SAGU led in the early stages of the game on a pair of big three-point rainbows from Christian Wood-Dvorak (Halletsville, Tx / Halletsville HS) and Mo Oglesby (Arlington, Tx / Zion Academy), the last giving the Lions a 10-9 upper hand.

Louisiana State University at Shreveport, who’ve won six of their past seven games, countered with an 11-0 surge in which they made 4-of-4 shots and both free throw attempts. An offensive stickback by Dvorak drew the Lions to within 22-15 before the Pilots made more waves.

A 17-7 run lifted them into their largest lead of the night at 39-22 during which they converted 8-of-11 shots.

Southwestern bounced back with 10 unanswered points, sparked by Dvorak and Ronald Horne (Waco, Tx / Univ. N.Texas, Waco HS).

By intermission they had stormed back into the game with an 18-7 reply that was punctuated by four straight trifectas. Dominique Rambo (Dallas, Tx / Oklahoma Wesleyan, Trinity Christian – Cedar Hill) detonated the first two, followed by Jonathan Walter (Garland, Tx / Garland HS) and Craig Grigsby (Houston, Tx / Glenda Dawson HS).

Trailing 46-40 at the break, they drained six of their last seven shots to finish the half. SAGU converted 58% of their shots (15 of 26), but the Pilots were even hotter at 70% (19 of 27).

The second half saw the River Runners take charge by forcing six SAGU turnovers in a row . It keyed a quick 10-0 run to extend their lead to 58-42 . After committing just seven giveaways in the opening half, they had a half dozen in 4:18.

The Purple Pride stemmed the tide with an 11-2 flurry. Walter picked Derrick Parker’s pocket and went coast-to-coast and a Dvorak theft led to a Rambo basket. The rebuttal had SAGU knocking at the door, 60-53, with 11:46 to go. They would get no closer.

LSUS held the Lions’ rally bid at bay the rest of the way by making clutch free throws and controlling the clock with four offensive rebounds.

Southwestern, 3-4 since their 9-0 start, are 12-4 overall and 6-4 in the Red River Athletic Conference.

The Pilots continued their mastery over SAGU (now 10-0) to improve their ledger to 9-6 and 7-3. They are in fourth place in the RRAC, trailing Our Lady of the Lake University (14-3, 11-0), St. Thomas (10-6, 8-2) and Texas Wesleyan University (12-3, 7-2).

Rambo wrestled with an off-shooting night (6-of-17 shots, 1-5 FTs) but still led the Lions in scoring with 16 points and five assists. Grigsby (5-of-8) added 13 while Dvorak (4-of-7) netted 10 points.

Walter contributed seven while Horne and James Ford (Victoria, Tx / Faith Academy) came off the bench to toss in six apiece. Horne was credited with four assists. Ford took two shots and ripped the nets for a pair of threes in just five minutes of court time.

SAGU made 46% of their attempts (26-56) and swished 7-of-13 from the foul line. They connected on 10 of 30 three-pointers.

LSUS placed five players in double-figures, led by guard Greg Shyne’s 23. Parker had 14 points and nine boards, with five on the offensive end.

While held to 40% shooting in the second stanza, the Pilots still were good on 57% (27-47). Parker converted only 4-of-11 free throws, the rest of his team countered to make 20-of-23 (24-34 total). LSUS was 5 of 12 from long distance.

The Pilots owned a 33-27 margin in rebounds, though SAGU had a 14-12 advantage on the offensive glass. Both teams made 15 turnovers.

Schedule: 3-of-next-4 at home

Southwestern, who has already equaled last year’s victory total with 14 games remaining, are off until this Saturday, January 21. They welcome Jarvis Christian College (Hawkins, Tx) to the Sheaffer Center for a 7:30pm (CST) start.

After a Monday trip to Houston to meet the University of St. Thomas, SAGU returns for two straight home tilts against Bacone College (Jan. 26) and Huston-Tillotson University (Jan. 30). It caps a four-game stretch with three at home.

Injury Update

Caleb Feemster (Addison, Tx / Trinity Christian), a 6’5 freshman guard, had to miss his third game in a row with an undisclosed injury. His return is listed as day to day.

He has averaged 4.8 points per game, including eight triples. His most memorable moment was a trifecta at the buzzer in a win over Arlington Baptist College. It was the 13th three-ball of the night, enough to give a packed crowd a coupon for six free hot wings at the Waxahachie Buffalo Wild Wings. Afterwards he was mobbed by teammates and fans.

That was not what caused his injury.

Contact: Mark “Link” Warde, Sports Information Director, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 469-658-2847.