Box Score Michael Sarrat scored 12 of his game-high 21 points during the second half to lead the University of Dallas to a 50-47 victory over Colorado College in the opening game of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference postseason tournament on Friday night.

The host Crusaders built a six-point cushion when Emmanuel Calton connected on his only three-point attempt with 2:50 remaining, but the hosts went cold and added only two more points on a layup by senior guard Kym Malone.

The Tigers cut their deficit in half when senior forward Chris Lesnansky converted an old fashion three-point play with 1:39 to go and were within three after Lesnansky sank a pair of free throws after UD senior forward Aaron Wyatt was whistled for a technical foul with 32 ticks on the clock.

CC had a pair of chances to force overtime, but junior guard Luke Winfield was unable to connect on either shot from behind the arc during the final 14 seconds.

Winfield led the Tigers with 11 points, while Lesnansky added 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Senior forward Russell Clark led Colorado College with seven rebounds.

CC overcame an early 7-0 deficit to build a 24-18 lead on a layup by senior guard Ryan Kell with just under three minutes to play before halftime.

Trailing 25-22 after 20 minutes, Dallas used a 14-5 surge to take a six-point lead 6:10 into the second half.

Junior guard Juwan Rohan dialed long distance to pull the Tigers to within three, but Sarrat scored the next five points to give the Crusaders an eight-point advantage for the first time at 41-33.

A three-pointer by junior forward Tyler Jonas and a bucket by junior guard Justin Berardino pulled CC to within three for the first time during the final seven minutes, but that proved to be as close as it would get.  

UD will play host to top seed Texas Lutheran University on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT.

Colorado College finished the season with a 13-13 record.