A resilient comeback effort came up short as the LeTourneau University men's basketball team dropped a 79-74 decision to Southwestern University on Tuesday at the UT Tyler Christmas Classic in Tyler.

A key contribution to the comeback effort was the bench for LeTourneau, who outscored the Pirates by a 43-24 margin. LeTourneau reserves Aaron Frizell (pictured) and Josh Thornton scored 14 and 11 points, respectively. Another key contributor from the bench was Chris Hynes, who scored seven points and handed out six assists.

Southwestern landed three players in double digits including Blake Scott and Zach Whitlock, who each scored 15 and Chris Lee added 10. Whitlock added 10 rebounds for a double double for the Pirates.

The YellowJackets (3-5) found themselves behind 14, 23-9 with 9:23 to play in the opening half, before closing out the first half on an 8-0 run and starting the second half on a 5-0 spurt that cut the deficit to two, 44-42 with 18:26 to play.

The Pirates (4-4) surrendered the lead for the first time in the contest when Frizell made a layup that put LETU ahead 52-51 with 11:15 to play. The game went back and forth for the rest of the contest with each team holding a lead twice over the next three minutes.

Southwestern took a 57-56 lead with 7:46 to play when Whitlock made one of two free throws that put the Pirates ahead for the rest of the contest. However, on three occasions, LeTourneau cut within a point of the Pirates.

Despite the loss, LeTourneau will close out 2014 when it takes on former ASC member - Schreiner at on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at the Herrington Patriot Center.