DALLAS – The University of St. Thomas men's basketball team coasted to a 96-59 win at Dallas Christian College Tuesday night.
The Celts, who are receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 poll, swept the season series from Dallas Christian. UST beat the Crusaders at home on Dec. 1.
St. Thomas improved to 14-7. Dallas Christian fell to 4-13.
UST's Paris Marquez (SR/Atascocita, Texas) scored 22 points on 8 of 13 shooting, and had five rebounds. He was 6 of 11 from three-point range. Nathan Thormaehlen (JR/Katy, Texas) had 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting, and grabbed five boards.
St. Thomas, which led by as many as 38, had 43 bench points to Dallas Christian's 11. The Celts went 15 of 36 from long range. The Crusaders were 12 of 28.
St. Thomas, which shot 54 percent from the floor in both halves, built a 46-28 lead at the intermission. The Celts outscored the Crusaders, 40-10, in the paint.
Thormaehlen's layup with 14:07 to play in the first half gave the Celts a 16-8 lead. Chance Houston's triple at the 10:40 mark pulled Dallas Christian within two. But Cameron Gims (FR/Cypress, Texas) hit a triple of his own on the next trip down the floor to push St. Thomas' lead back to five. The Celts went on a 9-0 run from there to take a 28-14 lead.
Christian Alaekwe (SO/Fresno, Texas) scored on a dish from Orowo Eleyae (SR/Houston, Texas) 18 seconds before halftime to extend UST's lead to 20 before Houston knocked down a jumper at the horn.
The Celts were 17 of 31 from the floor in the opening half. The Crusaders were 10 of 26.
Dallas Christian cut St. Thomas' lead to 46-33 on Deontrey Fuller's triple 31 seconds into the second half. Eleyae scored at the 14:53 mark to push the Celts' lead back to 20. Kennard Robinson (JR/Houston, Texas) buried a triple 3:14 later to put UST ahead, 66-40. Freddie Ricks (FR/Cypress, Texas) sank two free throws to make it a 30-point game with 9:29 to play to put things out of reach.
The Celts hit 19 of 35 field goals in the second half. The Crusaders were 10 of 29.
Nicholas Perez (JR/Katy, Texas) finished with nine points, Alaekwe and Eleyae each had eight. Donald Williams (SO/The Woodlands, Texas) added six points, going 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Houston scored 23 points for the Crusaders.
The Celts outrebounded the Crusaders, 38-25.
St. Thomas will finish its six-game road trip Saturday when it returns to conference play for a 7:30 p.m. tip at Huston-Tillotson.
