Campus News

M BASKETBALL: ETBU holds off LeTourneau for 71-67 win

MARSHALL, Texas (1/26/10) – ETBU got off to a fast start Tuesday night and then held on despite a furious LeTourneau rally to take a much-needed 71-67 win over the Yellow Jackets in Ornelas Gymnasium.

The victory moves the Tigers (7-10, 6-7) just a half-game behind Texas-Tyler for the fourth and final playoff spot in the ASC East Division race. ETBU moved to just two games behind LeTourneau (9-8, 8-5) for the third spot in the division.

ETBU and Texas-Tyler square off Thursday night in Tyler in the first of two head-to-head matches in a seven-day span. The Patriots will visit ETBU on Feb. 4.

The Tigers jumped out to an impressive 30-9 lead on LeTourneau over the first 12 minutes of the game, a run that included a 16-0 burst over a five-minute span. The lead hovered in the upper teens the rest of the first half before settling in at a 43-28 Tiger advantage at halftime.

Then things started to get interesting. The experienced Yellow Jackets, who started five seniors and have eight seniors on the roster compared to just one for ETBU, began pounding away at the lead and eventually caught the Tigers at 67-all with exactly two minutes remaining.

LeTourneau tied the game on a pair of free throws from senior JJ Rockmore, but the Yellow Jackets were then shut out over the final two minutes. The eventual game-winning bucket came on a clutch 15-foot jumper from ETBU’s Deba Egharevba, a basket that gave the Tigers a 69-67 advantage with 1:29 to go.

Rockmore missed a jumper on the next possession but the Jackets corralled a dead-ball rebound. Cristian Driver’s shot then missed, and Josh Chambers ripped down the rebound for ETBU with 49 seconds left.

A missed three-pointer by ETBU’s Jacob Turnipseed as the shot clock was winding down gave LeTourneau another opportunity with 20 seconds left, but Jesse Hayes missed a potential go-ahead three-pointer with five seconds left. Chambers then drilled both free throws on the other end to seal the victory for ETBU.

Rockmore and senior Dale Vanwright led all scorers in the game, scoring a combined 49 of the Yellow Jackets’ 67 points. Vanwright finished with 26 points on 10 of 20 shooting, while Rockmore added 23 points on 9 of 13 shooting.

The Tigers were paced by James Morman’s 16 points, while Egharevba added 14 points and eight rebounds. RJ Prince came off the bench to score 11 points, while Chambers finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The Tigers’ dominance on the glass was also a huge factor, as ETBU finished with a 49-23 rebounding advantage. ETBU finished the game with 21 offensive rebounds, which led to a huge 22-0 scoring advantage in second-chance points.

The Tigers also outscored the LeTourneau bench, 27-3.

After Thursday’s game at Tyler ETBU will return home for a non-conference game against University of Dallas on Saturday before facing a rematch with the Yellow Jackets next Tuesday night in Longview.