Castro passes 1,000 point mark in win (Photo by Nate Regan, The Daily Campus)
Looking to win back-to-back home games for the first time since downing Baylor (77-43) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (87-50) in early January, the men’s basketball team (11-10, 6-7 WAC) hosted the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (13-7, 5-7 WAC) Saturday night in a historic game for SMU center Eric Castro.
The 6-foot-8 senior became the 34th Mustang to eclipse the 1,000-career point mark as he poured in 10 in a 71-65 win over Hawaii.
Castro, who ended the evening with 1,004 career points, also pulled down six rebounds and went five-of-eight shooting in 33 minutes.
In addition to Castro, two Mustangs hit the double-digit mark in points; forward Patrick Simpson nailed 14 and guard Bryan Hopkins led all players with 27.
The Rainbow Warriors got out to an early lead when a three-pointer by senior guard Jake Sottos sank a three-pointer with just under 14 minutes to play in the first half to give Hawaii a 9-6 advantage.
A minute-and-a-half later, however, SMU senior Justin Isham hit a three of his own to put the Mustangs ahead by two.
Castro and Hopkins made good on back-to-back lay-ups to give the Mustangs a 17-11 lead with 10 minutes to play.
As the clock ticked down, Hawaii chipped away at the SMU lead, leapfrogging to a 24-23 lead when sophomore guard Matt Gibson drained two consecutive free throws with 4:42 to go.
The ‘Bows would go ahead by as much as four before the Mustangs, led on both ends of the court by sophomore Devon Pearson, regained a three point advantage.
Pearson stepped up in the absence of freshman Derrick Roberts, who sat out the game after jamming his right knee Thursday against San Jose State.
With five seconds left in the half, Hawaii’s Kris Groce attempted to squeeze in one final shot when he attempted a jumper inside the three-point arc. He ran into trouble in the form of SMU’s Simpson, who blocked the shot to prelude a buzzer-beating Bryan Hopkins lay-up.
The Mustangs led at halftime, 32-27.
Much like they did in Thursday’s 20-point victory over the Spartans, SMU used a marginal halftime lead as a springboard to a stellar offensive second half.
Down the stretch, the team was led by the inside presence of Castro and Simpson. The senior pair combined for 16 second-half points.
With just under four minutes to play in regulation and the Mustangs ahead by seven, Bryan Hopkins held the ball as the shot clock approached zero. To the delight of a Moody Coliseum crowd of 3,254 fans, he once again injected life into the team as he hit a three-pointer from well beyond the arc to put SMU ahead, 59-49.
An array of three-pointers and shots in the paint would not be enough for Hawaii, however, as ten straight free throws by Hopkins and Isham propelled the Mustangs to a 71-65 win.
The men will try to win three in a row for the first time this year when they host the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (13-9, 8-5 WAC), who currently hold third place in the conference, tomorrow evening. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Moody Coliseum.
