HOUSTON – The Celts of the University of St. Thomas saw their season-long 13-game winning streak snapped Friday as visiting Texas Lutheran claimed a 77-74 win.

UST's Freddie Ricks III (SO/Cypress, Texas) scored a career-high 28 points to lead the Celts (13-1, 6-1 SCAC). Christian Alaekwe (JR/Fresno, Texas) scored 11 points off the UST bench, while Kennard Robinson (SR/Houston, Texas) chipped in 10 points.

Sebastian Andrade scored 22 points for Texas Lutheran (8-5, 5-1 SCAC).

In a battle of the top teams in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, TLU took a 41-34 into halftime and led for all but a minute in the second half. The Celts tied the game twice in the second half, but TLU responded each time.

TLU stretched its lead to 71-66 with just under two minutes remaining in the game, but the Celts clawed their way back with a pair of layups from Ricks and Robinson to cut the lead to one with 1:03 left in the period. Caleb Lister then responded with a 3-pointer for TLU with 32 seconds remaining; Lister scored 20 for the Bulldogs.

The two teams traded free throws in the final seconds, with Andrade knocking down a pair with 1.8 seconds remaining in the game to build TLU's lead back up to three points. The Celts had a good look at a potential tying basket as time expired, but Alaekwe's shot from the top of the key was off the mark.

The Celts return to action Sunday when they host Southwestern (Texas). Tipoff is scheduled for noon.