SWOSU Sports
Doug Self, Sports Information Director
BOLIVAR, Mo. – SWOSU Men’s Basketball saw an 11-point advantage with 6:06 to play against Lincoln turn into a 78-77 deficit with 13 seconds to play, but Charles Beauregard, Jr., refused to let the Bulldogs drop their season opener and buried a three-pointer with three seconds play to lift his team to an 80-78 victory.
The Bulldogs took their largest lead of the game at 72-61 after Jerry Hurt hit four consecutive free throws following a technical foul on the Blue Tigers. SWOSU was plagued by turnovers the remainder of the game, giving the ball back to Lincoln six times and allowing the Blue Tigers to erase the deficit and take just their second lead of the second half on a three-pointer with 13 seconds remaining.
After a SWOSU timeout, the Bulldogs arranged a play that had the ball in the hands of Beauregard in the final seconds and the junior transfer hit the game-winning three-pointer off an assists from Daniel Eibel with three seconds left on the clock.
SWOSU trailed for most of the first half – by as much as 11 – but used an 11-0 run over the final three minutes of the half to take a 41-33 lead at the break. Lincoln would come back and take the lead with 14:56 to play, but Justin King answered with a jumper and SWOSU maintained control from that point until the final seconds.
The Bulldogs had to overcome 17 turnovers that led to 22 points for the Blue Tigers, doing so by knocking down 46.4 percent (26-56) of their field goal attempts while connecting on 8-of-19 (42.1 percent) three-point attempts. SWOSU also had an advantage of 35-to-30 in rebounds and assisted on nine of 26 made field-goals.
Five different players scored in double figures for the Dawgs, led by Jerry Hurt, who finished with 16 points and four rebounds in 31 minutes before fouling out. Beauregard added 15 points and a team-high six rebounds while Devin Pugh chipped in 14 points off the bench. Other top scorers for SWOSU included Justin King with 11 points and Daniel Eibel with 10.
“We got a great team win today on the road against a solid MIAA opponent,” SWOSU Head Coach Bob Battisti said following the game. “They’re a pretty good team, but I’m proud of our group for showing some toughness tonight. We got good perimeter play throughout and CB stepped up late to make sure we didn’t lose.”
SWOSU (1-0) wraps up the SBU Classic on Saturday evening against tournament-host Southwest Baptist. Tipoff is set for 7:00 pm from the Meyer Sports Center in Bolivar.