March 12, 2015
NCAA BASKETBALL: STEVENS POINT, Wis. (3/13/15) - Showing the dominating play of a team effort, East Texas Baptist University held the University of Northwestern-St. Paul to just 30 percent shooting from the floor taking the Sweet 16 game, 70-46. ETBU now moves to their first-ever appearance in the Elite 8 on Saturday night.
"Our opponent was extremely well coached and they played with a lot of confidence as they came into the game with an 18-game winning streak" says head coach Bert West. "I was pleased with the game but we still have to make some improvements."
ETBU won their seventh straight game and 26th of the year and is the second most under West. The win also ends Northwestern-St. Paul's 18-game winning streak. It was the strong defensive effort holding Northwestern-St. Paul to just 46 points which was the lowest any team has scored this year vs. ETBU. ETBU's defense also held UMAC player of the year Michael Carney to just five points and one three-pointer made.
"We went out and did what we had to do as none of us were nervous as we all play for the team," says Junior Mitchell.
Jamil Samuel added another double-double to his resume with 14 points and 11 rebounds as ETBU had three players in double figures. Justin Felicia hit three three-pointers for 11 points and Dylan Augustine finished with 10 points. Junior Mitchell and Chad Herring each gave nine points each. Northwestern-St. Paul had only one player in double figures as Matt Watnemo recorded 11 points.
It was a slow start for both teams as Northwestern-St. Paul made the first bucket at the 16:06 mark. Both teams exchanged buckets for a 4-4 tie with 12:35 left in the half. At that point, ETBU became comfortable on the Bennett Court as they on a 12-5 run for a 16-9 advantage in just over four minutes. Ahnre Gray started the run on a banked lay up at the 12:04 mark followed by Mitchell fast break lay up and a Herring lay up. Tyler Day connected on another fast break lay up as ETBU took a 12-4 lead. Herring and Dylan Augustine finished out the scoring as ETBU went up by seven points.
Northwestern-St. Paul cut the lead back to four, 16-12 (8:02), only to see ETBU?s offense continue to blossom. In the next six minutes ETBU went on a 20-7 run taking a 17-point lead, 36-19. Three three-pointers were canned in the run with one by Felicia and two by Augustine. Northwestern-St. Paul finished out the final two minutes with a 5-0 run bringing ETBU's lead down to 14 at the half, 39-25. ETBU held Northwestern-St. Paul to just 30 percent shooting from the floor and 25 percent from the three-point line.
Carrying the momentum into the second half with the 14-point lead, made it 52-27, a 25-point lead in the first four minutes. It was a 13-2 run to start the half with two Felicia three-pointers and one from Erby Thompson. By the 12:53 mark ETBU had pushed their lead to 28-points, 57-29. That was the largest lead of the night for the Tigers and they never let the lead dip below 22 points. Northwestern-St. Paul shot worse in the second half, 29.6 percent from the floor and 18 percent from the arc, as they only made two three-pointers.
ETBU finished shooting 50 percent from the floor and 43 percent from the three-point line while making 9-of-14 from the stripe (64 percent). ETBU also out rebounded Northwestern-St. Paul, 41-31, and both teams only had seven turnovers.
ETBU will now face Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday night in the Elite Eight with a trip to the Final Four going to the winner. UWSP beat Emory 73-53.