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ALPINE, Texas – Looking to open up the 2018 American Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament in style, the LeTourneau University men's basketball team would hit the century mark in a 100-74 neutral-site win over Howard Payne University in ASC Tournament quarterfinal action at the Gallego Center in Alpine, Texas on Thursday, February 22nd.
 
The win, which is the first time that the YellowJackets have won in Alpine under fourth year head coach Dan Miller, sets a school a record as LETU improves to 23-3 overall and advances to tomorrow's 5 p.m. ASC semifinal round. HPU ends their season at 11-15 overall after falling to LeTourneau for the second time this season.
 
"The guys were locked in and mission ready today" said head coach Dan Miller in a post-game interview. "We knew that Howard Payne was playing at a high level having won three in a row, so we had to be focused." "I thought we moved the ball well today and other than the start of the second half we played solid defense and earned the win."
 
Statistically, LeTourneau would dominate in nearly every aspect of the game by shooting 50 percent (34-for-68) from the field and knocking down 12-of-28 (42.9 percent) three-point attempts. LETU also held a 43-38 advantage in the rebounding category, and outscored HPU 21-9 in points off turnovers. Another key aspect to the game for LeTourneau would be bench points, as the YellowJackets would get a 34-7 advantage from their bench.
 
Four of LeTourneau's five starters would hit double-figures in the game, led by a team-high 23 points from senior Alec Colhoff who would hit his first four treys of the game while scoring 12 points in the opening three minutes of action. Sophomore Nate West would not be far off of Colhoff, scoring 18 points and assisting on four buckets while also collecting two steals. Justin Moore and Caleb Loggins added 11 and 10 points each with Loggins grabbing five boards and Moore two steals and three assists. Howard Payne was led by a game-high 37 points from the ASC's leading scorer Khyce Randall, who finishes his HPU career seventh on the all-time scoring charts.
 
LeTourneau would come out with a hot shooting touch from the start, hitting seven of their first eight shots of the game which included four triples to jump out to a 20-9 lead with 15:21 left in the first half. The LETU lead would grow to 28-13 on a pair of free throws by Loggins as Howard Payne would be unable to match the speed and efficiency that LeTourneau would show in the early going. The efficiency for LeTourneau would also be seen at the charity stripe, going 15-of-17 from the free throw line in the first half while outscoring HPU 15-5 on points at the line in the first half. LeTourneau would take their largest lead of the first half with 1:24 remaining in the half at 48-31, but five straight points by Randall would bring Howard Payne back within 12 at 48-36. Colhoff would have the answer however to end the period, hitting a deep three to close out the opening 20 minutes of play with 19 points.
 
Following five straight points to open up the second half for LeTourneau, Howard Payne would use a 10-0 run to close the gap to single digits at 55-46 and appear to be making a game out of things. LETU would respond with a 10-0 run of their own to go right back up by a score of 65-46 with just under 13 minutes remaining and reclaim the control they had for a majority of the first half. From that point forward, Randall would do everything in his power to try and pull HPU back into the game, but LeTourneau would have too much firepower as three of their next four baskets would come from beyond the arc to open up a 78-56 lead with just 8:27 remaining in the second half.
 
LeTourneau would then turn to their bench down the stretch, utilizing fresh legs to build their largest lead of the afternoon at 92-64 on a Seth Mattson jumper with just 3:08 remaining before seeing HPU narrowly outscore LETU 10-8 in the final minutes.
 
LeTourneau will take on East Texas Baptist University at 5 p.m. on Friday, February 23rd in what will be the season-series grudge match against the YellowJackets and Tigers. In the regular season, both squads earned road victories over the other, with ETBU winning 96-93 in Longview before LETU returned the favor by a final of 95-85 in the final week of the regular-season.
 
ASC Notes: Thursday's win marks the first-time in school history that LeTourneau has won American Southwest Conference Men's Basketball Tournament games in back-to-back seasons after earning their first ASC Tournament win in school history last year. LETU has now won at least one game in every building in the American Southwest Conference, and improves to 17-2 against ASC competition this season. Dating back to December 19, 2016, the YellowJackets have won 31 of their last 35 games against the other 12 teams in the ASC and are 40-5 in their last 45 games played. In four American Southwest Conference Tournament games, senior Alec Colhoff has now scored in double-figures in all four games he has played, including a career-high 32 points in the ASC Title game last season.