St. Edward's University

AUSTIN, Texas - Senior Taylor Mullenax tallied 25 points and pulled down eight rebounds to lead St. Edward's to an 87-82 victory over Newman Saturday evening at the Recreation and Convocation Center. The win puts the Hilltoppers into the Heartland Conference Tournament as the number four seed.

St. Edward's (17-10, 11-5 HC) held a 15-point lead with just under six minutes remaining, but Newman (15-12, 9-7 HC) came storming back with a 22-7 run to knot the score, 78-78, with 1:58 left in the game. The Jets hit four shots from behind the arc to spark the run.

Mullenax answered with a three-point play with one minute remaining. Junior Bobby Watkins had two huge plays, picking up steals and the Hilltoppers split two pairs of free-throws to push the lead to five points with 43 seconds remaining. With St. Edward's, again, playing relentless defense, Mullenax picked up another steal and again the Hilltoppers split a pair of free throws as the lead grew to six points.

Jake Darby cut the lead in half with a three pointer with 21 seconds left. After both teams traded a free throw, Mullenax stepped to the line and knocked down two free throws with four seconds left to seal the victory.

In the first half, St. Edward's opened the game on a 14-4 run in the first three minutes. Mullenax had two layups and junior Reggie Shanks capped off the run by draining a trey.

Newman came roaring back with a 12-4 run over the next five minutes to cut the Hilltopper lead to 18-16, with 11:12 remaining in the half.

The Hilltoppers responded with a 14-5 run in the next four minutes to take their largest lead of the half, 30-19, with 7:10 left in the first half. Junior Cory Griffin came off of the bench to start the run off with three points.

The Jets cut the lead to five on a Ryan Bradley layup with 22 seconds remaining, but St. Edward's got a running jumper at the buzzer by sophomore Jeff Miner to give the Hilltoppers a 44-37 advantage at the break.

Mullenax was 9-of-13 from the field and 7-of-9 from the charity stripe. Junior Tylor Carr added 15 points off of the bench, while Miner tallied 10 points and five rebounds. Shanks chipped in with 13 points and five rebounds.

Bradley led the Jets with 19 points and eight rebounds. Jaray Mathews registered a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Jarvis Jackson and Darby finished in double figures with 15 and 13 points, respectively.

St. Edward's will be back in action Friday when they square off against top-seed Incarnate Word in San Antonio. Incarnate Word will host the conference tournament. All tournament games will be video webcasted. Check the Heartland Conference Website, along with the St. Edward's University Athletic Website for more information on the tournament.