November 17, 2015
FOOTBALL: BELTON, Texas (11/14/15) - Finishing up the 2015 regular season with seven wins, the #23 East Texas Baptist University football team didn't have enough offensive fire power to keep up with #13 Mary Hardin-Baylor (9-1/4-1) as they received their first American Southwest Conference loss of the year, 67-20. ETBU finishes ASC play as tri-champions with UMHB and Hardin-Simmons University and is their second overall championship in the history of the program.
Tyler Bates broke Stephen Alfred's program record for yards receiving in a season of 1,210 yards finishing with 1,251 yards. He finished the day with 179 yards receiving on 15 receptions. Overall, he had 11 touchdowns on the year which was one short of the single season record of 12 set last year by Alfred.
Kendall Roberson rushed for 86 yards and two touchdowns and finishes the season with 1,626 yards rushing. The 1,626 yards rushing was just 52 yards shy of breaking the single season record of 1,677 yards set by RoShawn Johnson in 2003. The 24 rushing touchdowns is a program record and leads all of NCAA Division III.
Josh Warbington went 28-of-41 for 258 yards and one touchdown on the day. He finishes the year with 2,180 yards passing and 17 touchdowns and has rewritten the ETBU game, single season, and career record book for passing in three years as a starter.
Defensively, Xavier Davis and Garrett Gibson led the team with nine tackles as each had six solo. Sam Williams recorded two interceptions and finishes the year with four overall.
It was the first quarter that was the turning point for ETBU. UMHB took a 7-0 lead on their first possession but ETBU's special teams gave them the ball back forcing a fumble on the next possession. Warbington punted the ball to the UMHB 37-yard line where Derek Ledet forced a fumble and Xavier Gray recovered it at the 13-yard line. Two plays later Roberson rumbled in to make it 7-6. ETBU missed the extra point and trailed by just one point.
UMHB made it 14-6 on the ensuing possession and then ETBU drove down to the Crusader 20-yardline with just under eight minutes to go in the first quarter. The UMHB defense forced ETBU to turn the ball over on downs and the scored four plays later making it 20-6. ETBU fought back and took their next drive to the UMHB 42-yard line but had the punt blocked on 4th-and-22 giving the ball back to the Crusaders at midfield. On the fourth play of the UMHB drive, Williams took in his third interception of the year at the goal line stopping a UMHB score. ETBU took over at the 20-yard line but the offense couldn't figure out UMHB's defense the rest of the way starting in the second quarter. UMHB shutout ETBU in the second and third quarters extending their lead to 60-6. ETBU found the end zone twice in the fourth quarter on a two-yard Roberson rush and a 15-yard pass to Richard Johnson.
ETBU finished the day with 307 yards of total offense as 258 came in the air. UMHB had 644 yards of offense as 439 yards were passing and two receivers had over 100 yards receiving.
ETBU ends the regular season at 7-3 and 4-1 in the ASC.
NCAA: WXC Makes History Competing at Regional Championships
NCAA CROSS COUNTRY (W) WINCHESTER, Va. (11/14/15) - It was the first time in program history that the East Texas Baptist University women's cross country team competed as a team at the NCAA Division III South/Southeast Regional and they finished 25th overall. They finished ahead of LaGrange College (Ga.) and Hendrix College (Ark.) within the 27-team field hosted by Shenandoah University (Va.), the event took place at the Kernstown Battlefield.
Among 200 runners, Shelby Taylor posted ETBU's top individual finish in 86th and was 82nd in terms of points, clocking in at 25:07.50. The next ETBU runner to complete the 6K course was Megan Merrillin 156th (142nd)with a final time of 27:26.00. Right behind Merrill was Shelby Sparks, who placed 157th (143rd) with a time of 27:27.10.
Chloe Hudson finished 174th (159th) with a final time of 28:23.50. Amy Daly was 176th (161st) clocking in at 28:38.80. Hannah Crisp finished 182nd (166th) with a time of 29:00.30. Alyssa Cummings was then 187th (170th) finishing the course in 29:23.40.
Megan Merrill is the lone senior on the team as the majority of the team will return next year. Merrill is a two-time ASC Sportsmanship Award Winner.
NCAA: MXC Completes Season as Team in NCAA Regionals
NCAA CROSS COUNTRY (M): WINCHESTER, Va. (11/14/15) - Taking the most runners in program history to the NCAA South/Southeast Regional Meet, the East Texas Baptist University men's cross country team wrapped up its 2015 season with a 27th-place finish out of 30 teams. Five runners competed amongst the best in the region and continue to make a name for the program under Natalie Bach-Prather.
ETBU finished ahead Methodist University (N.C.), Southwestern University (Texas) and LaGrange College (Ga.) the 30-team field. Hosted by Shenandoah University (Va.), the event took place at the Kernstown Battlefield.
Among 203 participants, Ian Spencer earned ETBU?s top individual finish. Spencer placed 104th and 99th in terms of points, clocking in at 29:09.10. The next ETBU runner to finish the 8K course was Landon Price. He finished 120th and 115th in terms of points with a time of 29:27.20. After Price, the next ETBU runner to finish the meet was Seth Powers, who placed 174th (166th) with a time of 31:34.30.
Beau Billings finished 184th (176th) with a final time of 32:09.00. Ramiro Mendez placed 194th (186th) clocking in at 33:36.50.
ETBU loses graduate student Landon Price who was a three-time All-ASC first-team runner and also participated at three straight NCAA Regionals.
No. 25-Ranked Basketball Wins Opener, 58-55
BASKETBALL (M): MEMPHIS, Tenn. (11/14/15) - On the heels of an Elite Eight appearance in the 2015 NCAA Division III Championship Tournament, the East Texas Baptist University men's basketball team (1-0) marched into the 2015-16 season by defeating Rhodes College (Tenn.) (0-1), 58-55, on Saturday afternoon inside of Mallory-Hyde Gymnasium. Three players finished in double figures including Jamil Samuel who had a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds and two blocked shots.
For the day, ETBU shot 41.2 percent from the field and 66.7 from the free throw line. In addition to Samuel's offensive, Dylan Augustine and Bret Atkins contributed 10 points apiece. For Rhodes, Tyler Gee had 11 points, 12 rebounds and Aquil Muhammad had 16 points and eight rebounds.
During the opening half, ETBU held an eight-point edge following a dunk by Isaiah Thomas. Leading 29-24 with under four minutes until the half, ETBU did not score in the final three-plus minutes, while Rhodes scored the final four points of the first half. At the halftime buzzer, ETBU still held a slender 29-28 lead.
In a back-and-forth second half, ETBU took a 41-41 game and scored seven-straight points to assume a 48-41 lead. Later with the score knotted 50-50, ETBU scored six unanswered points to go ahead 56-50 and eventually edged the host by a 58-55 final.
Up next for ETBU is yet another road game on Tuesday, traveling to Shreveport, Louisiana, to play Centenary College (La.) at 7:30 p.m.
Leonard's 30-Point Performance Pushes ETBU to Win over SU
BASKETBALL (W): MARSHALL, Texas (11/14/15) - Two career milestones took place on Saturday afternoon in Ornelas Gym as the East Texas Baptist University women's basketball team held off Southwestern University, 69-66, in the 2015-16 season opener. ETBU head coach Edsel Hamilton received his first career win in his coaching debut and senior April Leonard posted a career-high 30 points.
It was Leonard's senior leadership that pushed ETBU through the final two minutes of the fourth quarter as ETBU pulled out the three-point win. After Southwestern hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:19 to go, 66-65, Leonard swooshed in her sixth three-pointer of the day to put ETBU back in front, 68-66, at the 1:06 mark. ETBU's defense took a stand in the next minute and then Leonard was fouled with eight seconds left. She then made one free throw before the second was called off due to a lane violation for a three-point lead, 69-66.
Leonard finished the night shooting 10-of-15 from the floor, including a six-of-eight performance from three-point range, and also chipped in four assists and four steals. Southwestern's Olivia Podaras also had 30 points. Taylee Alexander contributed a team-best nine rebounds for ETBU to go along with a half dozen points. Lauren Lee also had six points and three blocked shots. As a team, ETBU shot 29.0 percent in the opening half, converting nine of 31 field-goal attempts. In comparison, Southwestern hit 33.3 percent of its first-half shots from the floor, converting 11 of 33 field-goal attempts.
Holding onto a 16-15 lead in the first quarter, ETBU scored one more point than Southwestern in the second quarter, 11-10, for the 27-25 lead at the half. In the first quarter, Southwestern had an 8-5 lead but ETBU went on an 8-0 run for the 13-8 lead. Leonard had five of the eight points scoring the first five on a three-pointer and lay up. ETBU never lost the lead after that in the first half. ETBU moved their lead to 10, 27-17, in the second quarter at the 4:50 mark on another Leonard lay up off a fast break. ETBU then did not score in the last four minutes as Southwestern cut the lead to two, 27-25 at the half.
During the third quarter, ETBU matched its largest lead of the day following a pair of successful 3-point shot by Ambrosia Woodard that made it a 49-39 game. Southwestern came within a single point after a 3-point basket by Podaras with under 1:30 remaining in the fourth quarter, but ETBU hung on for the three-point win. In the second half, ETBU hit of 17 of 32 shots, good enough for a 53.1 shooting percentage.
ETBU plays its first road game this season on Tuesday night, facing host Centenary College (La.) at 5:30 p.m.