The Tigers' 15th season under head coach Bert West was about as frustrating a year as any in the coach's long career at both the collegiate and high school levels.

With high hopes entering the season, coming off a promising year in 2007-08 that saw ETBU advance to the conference tournament with one of West's youngest and most inexperienced teams, the Tigers got off to a slow start in conference play with a 3-5 record to start ASC action.

But a set of talented newcomers that included all-conference picks Jacob Turnipseed, Dennis Jones and James Morman began to mesh with returners such as Josh Chambers and Jeremiah Pojah around mid-January, setting the stage for an ETBU surge in the standings. The Tigers opened ASC East action with road wins at Ozarks, Louisiana College and Mississippi College -- traditionally the toughest places to play for ETBU. By early February, the Tigers had pushed back into the playoff race and were closing in on what appeared to be a return trip to the postseason.

But a heartbreaking, 3-point loss at home in a rematch with Mississippi College, just after a tough loss on the road at Texas-Tyler, ultimately proved to be the finishing touches on ETBU's frustration. The Tigers mauled nationally-ranked and eventual ASC champion Texas-Dallas and Ozarks in Ornelas Gym to close out the year, but were kept out of the postseason by one game in the standings.

West believed that by the end of the season the Tigers had evolved into a team that could legitimately have pushed through and possibly won the conference championship tournament. Not getting into the dance, however, was a bitter pill to swallow.

"It’s disappointing and a little hollow, to accomplish what we did over the final month and it not be enough to get in,” West said about the team’s fifth-place finish in the East – one excruciating game out of the postseason. "We knew we’d put ourselves in a very difficult position early and it just proved to be just enough to keep us out. But as far as my team goes, I couldn’t have asked any more from them than what they gave over the last month. I really think we went from being a dangerous team to a good team, and there’s a big difference. But it wasn’t good enough, and that’s what we’ve got to work with going forward.”

The near-miss and the frustration at knowing what might have been put a very bad taste in the Tigers' mouths heading into the offseason. It's a feeling West hopes carries over into next season, when ETBU is set to return no fewer than four starters -- Chambers, Turnipseed, Morman and Jones, along with a deep bench that includes returning juniors Deba Egharevba and Zephaniah Coleman along with promising sophomores Decorey Jones and Kendre' Smith.

West was most pleased with and gave credit for his team's turnaround in fortunes in the second half of last season to its improvement on the defensive end of the floor.

While acknowledging that "I’m an offensive-minded coach by nature,” West also said ETBU draws extreme pride in that, for the first time since becoming a member of the ASC in 1998-99, the Tigers led the league in field goal percentage defense. ETBU edged ASC East champion UT Dallas on the final day of the season to earn that honor, finishing with a .407 opponents’ shooting percentage in 20 games against conference-only opponents.

"I’m an offensive-minded coach by nature, but our defensive performance this year is something I’m very pleased with and proud of,” he said. "Quite honestly defense is something I really worry about mostly when the game starts. (Assistant coach) Michael Prather deserves all the credit for coaching our defense and making it what it was by the end of the year.”

ETBU's defense on the court – in games against conference opponents – also was fourth-best in the league in points allowed per game (70.6) and sixth in three-point percentage defense (.324). West said the Tigers’ guards – notably, Jones, Turnipseed and senior guard Melvin Brewer – helped make ETBU a good defensive team on the perimeter with their quickness and hands, while Chambers’ presence inside made it extremely difficult for opponents to get to the basket.

Offensively, West also gave credit to assistant coach Josh White for helping turn around the Tigers’ fortunes in mid-January. The Tigers’ scoring average over the final 11 games was just two points higher than the previous 14, but ETBU’s shooting percentage went from 43 percent before Jan. 17 to 46 after, and the team also improved its 3-point shooting from 26 percent in the first 14 outings to nearly 36 percent over the final 11.

And late in the year, the Tigers gave West his 200th career coaching victory at the collegiate level, something that will always make this particular team special for the head coach. West finished the season with 202 career collegiate wins, with 190 of those coming at ETBU. He should pass 200 wins at ETBU sometime during the 2009-10 season.

"I like where our program is right now,” West said. "Over the last two years our assistants have brought in some key players who have helped us get close to the level we want to be at every year. We need to continue that trend in recruiting, and I also expect our returning guys to attack the offseason with hunger because of the disappointing end of this year, of not getting into the postseason. We need to hit the ground running in October and be ready to pick up where we left off, because we hopefully learned a valuable lesson regarding every game in our league being one that can make the difference in advancing or staying home at the end of the year.”

West has become as synonymous with ETBU basketball as the Tiger mascot itself. A graduate of then-East Texas Baptist College and native of Arkansas, West coached the Tigers from 1991-1997 before leaving for three years to coach at Southern Arkansas University (1997-98) and as Marshall High School girls basketball coach (1998-2000).

He returned to his alma mater in June of 2000 and has since coached the Tigers to an American Southwest Conference East Division championship in 2002-03 and to four ASC tournament appearances in his nine seasons back on the ETBU bench.

West graduated from East Texas Baptist College in 1972 after playing on the Tiger basketball team himself under Coach R. C. Kennedy. After a highly successful high school career that saw him win four consecutive state championships at Zwolle, La., West came back to Marshall and ETBU in 1991 to take over the men's basketball program from retiring coach and all-time wins leader Jim Webb.

The return was miserable at first. West's first two Tiger teams won just 11 games combined the first two seasons before breaking through with a 17-15 season in 1993-94.

That season kicked off a four-year run of winning records for the Tigers, including a school-record 28-5 season in 1995-96. Prior to that season, in 1994-95, the Tigers finished as the highest-scoring team in the NAIA nationally, averaging 102.8 points per game.

Following his sixth season in 1996-97, West accepted the head coaching position at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, Ark. After spending one season as the Muleriders' head coach, West returning to East Texas and began a two-year stint as head girls basketball coach at Marshall High School.

His return to ETBU beginning in 2000-01 started off slowly again, as the Tigers struggled to a 7-18 mark in West's first season back. After a 12-12 mark in 2001-02, West coached his best NCAA Division III team to date with a 17-9 mark that included the ASC East Division title. The Tigers' ninth loss of the year, however, came in the semifinals of the ASC Tournament, which ETBU hosted as East Division champions that year.

After a 12-13 finish in 2003-04, West's Tigers returned to the ASC Tournament in 2004-05. A year later, in 2005-06, ETBU finished 14-12 with a second straight second-place finish in the ASC East Division.

West's coaching at Zwolle, La., created records that may never fall in Louisiana high school basketball. Zwolle won four straight Louisiana state championships with West as head coach, a streak that included a 50-game winning streak.

Entering his 16th season at ETBU in 2009-10, West stands second all-time in Tiger coaching wins with 190. That leaves him behind only Jim Webb, who tops the list with 219 coaching victories. 

Bert and his wife, Diana, have two grown children, Amy and Brody. They also have four grandchildren: Caleb, Peyton, Sydney and Presley.