DALLAS
- Dallas Baptist turned around an early nine-point deficit and took a
15-point halftime lead and then held on to knock off ACU, 79-72, in the
men's basketball season-opener for
both teams at The Burg Center.
ACU
jumped out to a quick 13-4 lead just 4:25 into the game, but after Eric
Lawton's 3-pointer gave the Wildcats a nine-point lead, the Patriots
answered with a 19-5 run over the next
six minutes to take a 23-19 lead with 8:18 to play.
The
Wildcats closed that lead to 23-22 on a 3-pointer by freshman guard
Parker Wentz at the seven-minute mark of the first half, but the
Patriots closed the first half on a 21-7 run to
take a 44-29 lead into the halftime break.
ACU
cut into the DBU lead early in the second half, and then finally got it
down to 59-56 with 7:48 to play on a layup by Eric Lawton. DBU pushed
the lead back to 10 points before ACU
rallied to trim the deficit to 72-70 with 1:34 to play on a layup by
Desmond Woodberry.
But
DBU's Nick Fox answered with a three-point play to make it a 75-70 game
with 1:14 to play before Wesley Gipson hit a pair of free throws with
39 seconds left to push the lead to 77-70
and ice the game.
The Wildcats (0-1) will return to the court Friday and Saturday when they host the Whitten Inn Classic at Moody Coliseum.