POSTGAME INTERVIEW WITH HEAD COACH BOB DAVIS AND KENDRAE CARTER

LONGVIEW - The LeTourneau YellowJacket men's basketball team snapped a four game skid on Thursday evening and picked up their first ASC win of the season by defeating Sul Ross St. 74-70 in Solheim Arena.

Senior Deitrich Williams opened the game up with a three pointer followed by a jumper from Josh Thornton to give LeTourneau (2-5, 1-2 ASC) a 5-0 lead right out the gate. The Jackets used great defense to slow down the Lobos as they kept them scoreless throughout the first four minutes.

Sul Ross (2-5, 2-1 ASC) finally got their first point at the 15:25 mark, but senior Kendrae Carter entered the game off the bench and scored his first two points to extend the lead back to five. 

The Lobos responded in the next five minutes and pulled the game within two as they began to heat up from the field, but LeTourneau responded again with jump shots from juniors Justin Jones and Chad Williams to maintain the lead.

The two teams exchanged scoring possessions before the Jackets backcourt began to penetrate the defense and draw fouls, getting to the free throw line and getting the easy ones to fall to take a game-high eight point lead. 

Sul Ross made a move in the final minutes of the first half as they got it down to three, but Thronton hit a mid-range jumpshot with four seconds to go to give LeTourneau a 36-31 lead at halftime.

The Lobos turned up the heat in the second half, scoring five of the first seven points to tie the game up at the 18:42 mark. The Lobos kept the pressure up and took their first lead of the game at the 15:10 mark after a layup by Justin Copeland made it a 46-45 game.

The Jackets went to work and was able to regain the lead and push it to five thanks to great post play and clutch shooting from Carter. Sul Ross responded right back though and tied the game at 53 with 10:50 remaining.

Again, the brilliant post play of Carter as well as attacking guards put LeTourneau back up by six, but a quick 7-0 run gave Sul Ross the lead with 2:59 to go in the game.

However, Carter came through with the play of the game, ripping down an offensive board and going back up strong and finishing while drawing the foul to give the YellowJackets the lead right back. After making the free throw to finish the three-point play, Carter struck again on the next possession for a layup to give LeTourneau a 69-65 lead.

The Lobos made it a one point game again with 1:23 remaining, but D. Williams found Jones in the post as he put away a layup to push the lead up to three. 

After a failed possession by Sul Ross, freshman Ladaria Brown sealed the game with two free throws and LeTourneau walked out with a hard fought 74-70 victory.

Carter was brilliant off the bench with 21 points and nine rebounds including six offensive boards and also adding a blocked shot. Brown followed with 13 points while D. Williams had 10 points and two steals. 

After shooting poorly in Shreveport on Monday, LeTourneau regained their stroke and shot 45% from the field. They outrebounded their opponents 44-41 and despite losing the turnover battle 9-7, it was one of the most productive games in turnover prevention so far this season.

LeTourneau turns right back around on Saturday as they welcome in the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets to Solheim Arena. They are set to tipoff around 3 p.m. following the conclusion of the women's game.