Tiger Athletics: Weekend News

BASKETBALL (W): IRVING, TEXAS (11/17/12)- East Texas Baptist University earned its second straight win with a 66-58 victory over University of Dallas playing in the Dallas Tip-Off Classic at the Maher Athletic Center. The Tigers, coached by Dustin Howard, are 2-0, while University of Dallas falls to 1-1.

The Tigers trailed at halftime 33-26 but outscored University of Dallas 40-25 in the come from behind win. Sophomore Jaimie Kadlecek from Smithville led ETBU in scoring with 14 points. Freshmen April Leonard of Quitman, La., and senior Holly Phelps of Tyler each pulled down eight rebounds for the Tigers.

The next game for ETBU will be the home opener at Ornelas Gym on Monday, November 26 vs. LSU-Shreveport in a non-conference game.



Joseph's Game Winner Gives ETBU 2-0 Record

BASKETBALL (M): SHERMAN, Texas (11/17/12)– Jaron Joseph’s senior leadership and clutch shooting was the difference in the end as East Texas Baptist finished off Austin College in the final seconds, 80-77. Joseph hit the game winning three-pointer with three seconds left as ETBU improves to 2-0 on the year. He finished leading all scorers with 23 points.

After Joseph’s 23 points, Chris Collins had 12 points, Junior Mitchell 11 points, and Kerry McClahan 10 points. Collins also led in rebounding with eight. ETBU finished shooting 47% from the floor, 37% from beyond the arc, and 83% from the stripe.

ETBU had as large as a 12-point lead in the first half before Austin College tied the game at 77 with 10 seconds to go in the game.

ETBU will host Howard Payne in a non-conference game on Tuesday in Ornelas Gym.



ETBU Comes From Behind in First Win of the Year

BASKETBALL (M): SHERMAN, Texas (11/16/12) – It literally was a tail of two halves for the East Texas Baptist University men’s basketball team as they came from behind for the season opening win over the University of Dallas, 80-69. ETBU was down as many as 12 points in the first half and pulled within three at the half before making their move in the second half.

Kerry McClahan finished with a double-double posting 19 points and 12 rebounds in the season opening win. Chris Collins followed with 14 points while Justin Felicia had 11 points and Jaron Joseph 10 points. Monty Grays finished with six assists while Felicia was 4-of-4 from the floor, 2-of-2 from the three-point line, and 1-of-1 at the stripe. ETBU finished shooting 41% from the floor, 28% from the three-point line, and 56% from the stripe.

Playing from behind the entire first half, ETBU was down 12 points, 20-8, with 12:34 left in the half and finished on a 28-19 run to cut the lead to three, 39-36. ETBU took a one-point lead, 31-30, with 3:43 left on a Collins free throw, before Dallas went on a 9-5 run to finish out the half, 39-36.

Opening up the second half on a 10-2 run, ETBU took their second lead of the game, 46-41, and never looked back. The lead stayed in the single digits until McClahan hit in a tip off of a missed shot to give ETBU an 11-point lead, 63-52. Dallas would come no closer than eight in the last 10 minutes of the game as ETBU earned their first win.

ETBU will play host Austin College on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in the second game.



Howard Earns Dramatic First Win in Season Opener

BASKETBALL (W): IRVING, Texas (11/16/12) – Going down to the wire in the season opener and collegiate head coaching debut for Dustin Howard, East Texas Baptist University pulled out the win over Austin College, 58-57. ETBU trailed the entire game, down as many as 14, before taking their first lead with 1:43 left in the game. The win marks the first win for new head coach Dustin Howard.

"It was a hard fought win for our team,” says Howard. "The girls deserve every bit of the win as they kept in the game, played hard, and executed when they needed to.”

Austin College had a four-point lead, 55-51, with 2:53 left in the game before ETBU outscored the Kangaroos, 7-2, in the last minutes of the game. With 1:43 left, Paigen Gilford netted a three-pointer to put ETBU ahead for the first time in the game and for good, 56-55. After a missed Austin College shot and two missed free throws by the Kangaroos, ETBU rolled to the victory in that time span. April Leonard sailed in two free throws with 25 seconds left to secure a three-point lead, 58-55. Austin College would then score with no time on the clock to come within one.

Leonard and Gilford, both new to the program, led the team with 14 points each. Mary Slaughter led the team with 11 rebounds. ETBU shot 31% overall from the floor and 26% beyond the arc making 52% of their free throws. ETBU also forced 27 turnovers but was out rebounded, 46-42.

The Kangaroos jumped out early by five points in the first seven minutes of the game, 12-7. ETBU cut the lead to three, 16-13, only to see Austin College push their lead to 14, 31-17, by the 3:47 mark on a 15-4 run. ETBU narrowed the lead to nine at the half, 34-25.

Starting the second half off with an 8-0 run to come within one, 34-33, it looked as if ETBU’s momentum would give them the lead but it didn’t happen. Austin College once again had a run, 9-1, over four minutes for a nine-point lead, 43-34., with 13:30 to go. ETBU started to slowly claw away at Austin College’s lead until the final two minutes when they made their move for the win.

ETBU will play host the University of Dallas on Saturday in the second game of the season.



Eight Players Earn ASC Awards

FOOTBALL: RICHARDSON, Texas (11/15/12) – Five defensive players and three offensive players have earned American Southwest Conference awards in football for East Texas Baptist University. Five players were named All-ASC while one was voted onto the Outstanding Sportsman of the Year list.

Collin Bieschke was voted one of eight players in the ASC onto the "Outstanding Sportsman of the Year” list for his conduct on the field. Bieschke finished second on the team in tackles with 75 and had three interceptions. He finishes his career in the top 10 in tackles.

Gaining All-ASC first-team status is wide receiver Kwame’ Spikes, linebacker Jordan Hayes, and defensive back Alex Cloudy.

Spikes was named to the slot position as he finished with 59 receptions for 655 yards averaging 11.1 yards per catch. He was second in the ASC in receptions per game (6.6) and sixth in receiving yards per game (72.8). He holds the ETBU record for single season and career receptions and is second in receiving yards. He is also in the top three in career for kickoff returns and kickoff return yards. This is his third ASC award as he was second team in 2011 and honorable mention in 2010.

Hayes is on the first team as a linebacker. He led the team with 87 tackles and four sacks. He ends his career fifth on the all-time list of tacklers at ETBU with 245 tackles. He leaves ETBU with nine career sacks and 29 tackles for loss. In the ASC, he was third in tackling averaging 8.7 per game.

Cloudy is another top defender for ETBU that is on the first team as a defensive back. He was named the ASC Defensive Player of the Week once this year and was an All-ASC second team selection last year. He finished third on the team in tackling with 68 tackles and had two interceptions for ‘pick 6’s’ this year. He leaves ETBU with five career interceptions which puts him in the top 10.

Gaining second team status are Michael Garcia and Dominque Bailey. Garcia started all 10 games this year as an offensive guard and helped an offense that averaged over 20 points per game. Defensively, Bailey, who is in his first year, led the team with six interceptions and had 38 tackles. He tied the single game record for interceptions with two against Louisiana College.

Dewon Davis and Jacob Alford were both named to the honorable mention team. Davis is a defensive lineman that played in 10 games and finished with 31 tackles. He had two tackles for a loss and three quarterback hurries. Alford started all 10 games at center and helped ETBU average over 20 points per game.

ETBU finished the year with two ASC players of the week in Seth Hubbard (offensive) and Cloudy (defensive), too.