Tiger Basketball

BASKETBALL (M): MARSHALL, Texas (12/31/12) – East Texas Baptist University will ring in the new year with a two-game winning streak as they held off Centenary College, 68-64, after having a 17-point lead in the second half for their fifth win this year. ETBU held a 17-point lead, 51-34, with 16:53 left in the game before Centenary went on a 19-2 run over nine minutes to tie the game at 53.

"I am real pleased with the way we played in the first half,” says head coach Bert West. "Centenary came out hard in the second half and tried to take the control but our boys didn’t give up and we pulled through for the victory.”

ETBU answered with five straight points on a three-pointer by Monty Grays and two free throws from Justin Felicia in less than minute never giving up the lead again, 58-53.

Erby Thompson poured in 13 points as the leading scorer for ETBU hitting five-of-six shots from the floor making three three-pointers. Jaron Joseph finished with 10 points scoring all his buckets in the first half. J.D. Richardson led ETBU with six rebounds, was four-of-four from the foul line and one block.

In the last five minutes, ETBU forced five of Centenary’s 20 turnovers with the first at the 4:57 mark when Donovan Williams turnover turned into a layup by Chris Collins to extend the lead to five, 60-55. After Centenary cut the lead back to three on their next possession, Collins converted a three-point play making the free throw pushing the lead to six as he scored all five his points in a one minute time span. At the 3:36 mark, Junior Mitchell picked Caden Cheramie’s pocket and took it to the hoop as ETBU’s lead went to eight points, 65-57.

Centenary continued to pressure ETBU as they were within three, 67-64, with 27 seconds left. Williams hit is only three-pointer of the game to pull Centenary within three. A foul by the Gents sent Grays to the line as he made one-of-two putting the lead at four for the Tigers, 68-64. Centenary’s Tyler Wright pulled down the defensive rebound but Jonathan Blount missed a three-pointer with eight seconds left as Richardson brought down the rebound to seal the win for ETBU.

Blount, who averages 29 points per game for Centenary, was held to just 12 points. Brett Ball was the leading scorer for the Gents with 15 points and Caden Cheramie added 10 points.

Centenary had to battle from behind the entire game after having a three-point lead in the first four minutes. Blount gave the Gents a three-point lead, 6-3, on a jumper at the 16:50 mark and Jairus Browing opened up the game with a layup just 30 seconds into the new game. Richardson put ETBU up, 3-2, answering with a three-pointer 15 seconds later but Saro Ntagha used the backboard to put Centenary up by one, 4-3. After Blount’s shot for the three-point lead, ETBU rolled out an 11-2 run for a six-point lead, 14-8.

At the 5:51 mark, Blount zipped in a layup as Centenary came within two, 25-23. That was as close as the Gents would come the rest of the first half as ETBU reeled off five straight points off a three-point play by Joseph and a layup by Richardson.

ETBU pushed their lead 14, 41-27, which was their largest of the first half, with 51 seconds left on a Jonas Chretien shot. Cheramie hit two free throws for Centenary with 33 seconds left in the half to cut ETBU’s lead to 12 at the half, 41-29.

Finishing shooting 44% from the floor, ETBU made seven three-pointers (35%) and went 11-of-16 from the stripe (68%). They finished with five blocks as Kerry McClahan posted two and 12 steals. They lost the rebounding battle, 40-30, but held Centenary to just four three-pointers overall (26%).

ETBU hosts the American Southwest Conference West’s top team in Mary Hardin-Baylor on Thursday, January 3rd, at 7:30 p.m. in Ornelas Gym.



Four Players Score Double Figures as ETBU Nips UW-Stout

BASKETBALL (W): AUSTIN, Texas (12/30/12) – April Leonard hit the biggest shot of the Concordia-Texas Christmas Classic with just under a minute to play vs. the University of Wisconsin-Stout as her three-pointer hit all net putting East Texas Baptist University ahead for good, 69-67, as they finished up with the 72-69 victory. ETBU was down by one, 67-66, with 1:12 to play until Leonard broke into double figures of 11 points hitting the three-pointer with 54 seconds on the clock. The win pushes ETBU’s record to 8-3 as they have won four out of their last five games.

"Today was a great win for our program as Wisconsin-Stout plays in one of the toughest NCAA Division III conferences,” says head coach Dustin Howard. "Our players are starting to believe that they can compete with anyone. That’s what we did today is compete. We were down double digits in the early going and battled back as we made some adjustments in the second half. We had some big shots from Jaimie Kadlecek and Mary Slaughter down the stretch as well as April Leonard draining yet another big three-pointer for us as she has ice water in her veins. It was just a total team effort today.”

Jaimie Kadlecek led four players in double figures as she recorded a career-high 19 points making 50% of her shots from the floor. She hit three of ETBU’s six three-pointers in the game and also made four free throws. Brandace Latin added 15 points and was followed by Leonard’s 11 points and Mary Slaughter’s 10 points. Adaeze Elonu led the rebounding efforts with eight. Brea Boomer led Wisconsin-Stout with 22 points.

After Leonard’s three-point shot put ETBU in front by one with 54 seconds left, Kadlecek went 1-of-2 from the foul line with 29 seconds left to extend the lead to three, 70-67. Wisconsin-Stout had their chances to tie the game and take the lead in the last 54 seconds but ETBU’s defense held strong. The Blue Devils missed a game-tying shot with 38 seconds left and then Latin stole the ball back after Kadlecek’s free throw with 16 seconds remaining and converted a fast break layup to put ETBU up by five, 72-67. Wisconsin-Stout finished up the game with a layup to pull within three but came no closer.

ETBU opened the second half on an 11-3 run after being down six at the half to take the lead, 46-44. ETBU was down by as many as 11 in the first half before swinging the game in the second half and taking a nine-point lead, 57-48.

Elonu put ETBU in front, 46-44, with 14:16 to play in the second half finishing out the 11-3 run. Wisconsin-Stout tied the game at 46 on two free throws but in the next five minutes ETBU went on an 11-2 run for their largest lead of nine. Kadlecek hit one of her three three-pointers to give ETBU the nine-point lead, 57-48, with 8:24 left in the game. Wisconsin-Stout battled back to retake the lead, 62-61, with just under four minutes to play in the game as lead changed hands five times before Leonard’s three-pointer put ETBU ahead for good.

Shooting just 37% from the floor, ETBU made 64% of their free throws and 30% of their three-point shots. They forced 24 turnovers and had 14 steals and out rebounded Wisconsin-Stout, 43-40. Wisconsin-Stout shot 41% from the floor, 33% from beyond the arc, and 62% from the stripe.

ETBU will host the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Thursday, January 3rd, at 5:30 p.m. in Ornelas Gym as they finish out their final two ASC West opponents this week.



Pressure Defense Forces 30 Rust Turnovers in 7th Win for ETBU

BASKETBALL (W): AUSTIN, Texas (12/29/12) – The pressure cooker came on and kept the Concordia-Texas Field House hot as the East Texas Baptist University women’s basketball team forced 30 turnovers in 27-point win over Rust College, 66-39. ETBU held Rust College to just 11 points in the first half with 27% shooting from the floor.

Mary Slaughter continued her strong presence in the paint shooting 75% from the floor as she led ETBU with 15 points and six rebounds. Adaeze Elounu added 12 points shooting over 50% from the floor.

Both teams were tied at three just one minute into the game but after that point it was all ETBU as Rust did not hit double-digits until the last minute of the half. In the next 18 minutes after the tie, ETBU outscored Rust, 23-6, for a 17-point lead, 26-9. Rust broke into double-digits with one minute left in the half on a Demetrius Bradshaw layup finishing the scoring for both teams, 26-11.

Rust came back shooting 28% in the second half scoring 28 points but could not figure out ETBU’s pressure. ETBU added 40 more points in the half and their largest lead of 29, 66-37, with 27 seconds left on a Leah Williams three-pointer.

ETBU finished shooting 51% from the floor which their second straight game of shooting over 50% after shooting 54% at Sul Ross State. With the win, they run their record to 7-3 and now are 4-1 against non-ASC teams this year. They shot 26% from beyond the arc and 70% from the stripe. Rust finished shooting 25% from the floor, 28% from the three-point line, and 83% from the foul line while out rebounding ETBU, 39-30.

ETBU will face Wisconsin-Stout on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. in the final game of the Concordia-Texas Christmas Classic.