POSTGAME INTERVIEW WITH HEAD COACH BOB DAVIS AND JUSTIN JONES

LONGVIEW - The LeTourneau YellowJacket men's basketball team made it two in a row on Saturday as they picked up a 68-50 win over the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets in Solheim Arena. For LeTourneau, tough defense and great play off the bench proved to be key as LeTourneau cruised to a 68-50 win.

Howard Payne (1-5, 0-4 ASC) started the scoring off with a made free throw before the Jackets responded with a 9-1 run which included four points from freshman Ladaria Brown, three points from junior Justin Jones, and two points from senior Deitrich Williams.

The Jackets (3-5, 2-2 ASC) increased that lead to 10 as Jones drained a jumper and Brown buried a three. 

The Yellow Jackets then settled in and got the game within 10 as they looked to chip away at LeTourneau's lead. As the end of the half drew near, Howard Payne had pulled within one, but Jones came through with two huge baskets in the final minute to give the YellowJackets a 34-29 lead at the break.

The two teams came out trading possessions during the start of the second half, but back-to-back three pointers from seniors Cristian Driver and Kendrae Carter and a layup from sophomore Josh Thornton extended LeTourneau's lead to 50-40.

The YellowJackets, looking for the knockout blow, found it with 6:11 to go in the game as Carter buried his second three to put LeTourneau up by 14 and the game out of reach. They showed no resent as they cruised to the ASC victory.

After scoring 20 and pulling down nine board the night before, Carter was brilliant off the bench again, going for 15 points to lead the way. Jones added a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards. Driver picked up seven points, five rebounds, two assists, and a steal off the bench while senior Deitrich Williams led the way with five assists.

LeTourneau shot 42% from the filed and 29% from the three point line. They outrebounded Howard Payne 40-29 and won the turnover battled 15-12, especially impressive in the second half, where LeTourneau only the turned ball over three times. The Jackets also outscored HPU's bench 29-11. 

The Jackets return to action on Saturday as they hit the road to Kerrville, Texas to take on Schreiner University at 7:30 p.m. For LeTourneau, they will look to increase their recent winning streak to three.