A 3-pointer with 1.6 second left from just beyond half court by Christian O'Neal of Hardin-Simmons led the visiting Cowboys to an 83-80 win over host LeTourneau University on Thursday afternoon. It is the second-straight contest between the Cowboys and the YellowJackets has been decided in the closing seconds. The Cowboys were picked to finish in the American Southwest Conference West Division in the preseason poll of league coaches, sports information directors and select media members. Earlier this year, HSU defeated LeTourneau, 98-96 in overtime, on December 12 in Abilene on a game-winning jumper by Ryan Leiss.
 
"We have now had two great basketball games against Hardin-Simmons and unfortunately, we came out on the wrong end of both of them," said LETU head coach Dan Miller. "It shows again that we can play with anybody in the ASC but we need to finish these games with wins."
 
The YellowJackets (4-8) jumped out to a 21-6 lead in the opening 5:24 of the contest. 11 of the 22 points came from LETU senior CJ Edwards. Off the bench, senior Giovanny Thompson added 21 points. Later in the half, LeTourneau stretched the margin to as much as 19 in the first half as they went into the halftime break with a 50-36 lead.
 
The Cowboys (7-4) scored 13 of the first 18 points to start the second half, cutting the LeTourneau deficit to six, 55-49. Later in the half, a 13-4 spurt put the Cowboys ahead for the first time in the contest when Dashun Dixon knocked down a 3-pointer for a 62-59 lead with 10:33 to go.
 
The contest went back and for the remainder of the game as the score would eventually be tied on four more occasions and there would be nine more lead changes before the game would be decided.
 
The Cowboys' Nathaniel Jack made one of two free throws with five seconds to go in the game to put HSU ahead, 80-78. Then, the YellowJackets responded with a thunderous slam by Thompson that brought the New Year's Eve crowd to its feet to tie the game at 80 with 2.6 seconds to play. LeTourneau junior Jeff Martin nearly stole the ensuing inbounds pass at midcourt which allowed the Cowboys to inbound the ball at midcourt. O'Neal then took a dribble on the inbounds and heaved a shot just beyond halfcourt and he banked in the shot to give the Cowboys the win.
 
Five players for Hardin-Simmons scored in double figures, including Dixon and Barnes, who each shared in team-high honors with 14 points. Christian O'Neal and Justin Jones each added 13 and Jack had a double double with 12 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
 
Edwards and Thompson each had 15 to lead LeTourneau, plus freshman Caleb Loggins had 13 and sophomore Sam Talbert added a season-high 12 in the loss. Junior Jeff Martin had nine points and seven assists for the YellowJackets.
 
"We will learn from it and be ready for the rest of ASC play," said Miller. "I love going to battle with these guys, every night as we look forward to the next one and we will be ready." In the eight losses for LeTourneau in 2015-16, they have been by an average of nearly six points a contest. Despite the loss, LeTourneau picked up 36 points from its bench for its second-highest effort on the season. In the last six games, LeTourneau is averaging nearly eleven 3-pointers a game.
 
The YellowJackets will have a quick turnaround as they will travel to face local rival UT Tyler on Monday, Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. Just two weeks ago, they defeated the Patriots by 15, 83-68 on Dec. 17 in Longview.