KERRVILLE, Texas – Facing a 24 point deficit with just 16:31 remaining in the game, the LeTourneau University men's basketball team would finally find a way to shake off the long holiday break and rally by outscoring Texas Lutheran 54-27 in the final 15 minutes to come away with a 100-97 victory at the SCAC/ASC Holiday Crossover Challenge hosted by Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas on Friday, December 29th.

The victory now puts LETU at 8-2 overall this season and 5-1 in non-conference action while the Bulldogs fell to 4-6 overall.

A slow start would not be an issue initially for LeTourneau, with the YellowJackets jumping out and scoring the first four points of the game before seeing TLU tie the game at 6-6 and again at 8-8 just four minutes into the game. Texas Lutheran's first lead of the game would come at the 15:20 mark in the first half as part of a 17-2 run that gave the Bulldogs a 23-12 lead with 12:07 remaining in the first half. The double-digit lead wouldn't last long for TLU as LeTourneau would come back with a 11-0 run that would include three straight triples to cut the lead 25-23 with 7:37 remaining in the first half before Texas Lutheran once again would go on a large run by outscoring LETU 29-12 the rest of the way in the first half and take a 54-35 lead into the locker room.

Six straight points for LETU would open up the second half and cut the TLU lead to 54-40, but it would again be a short-lived spurt as the Bulldogs would respond with a 12-2 run to open up a 66-42 lead while looking to run away with the game. LeTourneau would find themselves looking for a spark to start cutting into the lead knowing that they had just over 16 minutes remaining in regulation when an Alec Colhoff triple managed to jump start the YellowJacket rally.

A 13-0 run over the next three minutes of game action saw LeTourneau pull within 11 at 70-59 as Texas Lutheran would endure a 3:37 scoring drought. LETU managed to get the deficit to single digits on a pair of Justin Moore free throws as three-point shooting once again came into the fold with Moore and Nate West connecting on back-to-back three's to pull LeTourneau within two at 75-73. The YellowJackets reclaimed the lead for the first time in the second half when West would hit another triple with 9:24 remaining in regulation before seeing things go back-and forth for the next several minutes.

Neither team would be able to stake a lead larger than six points in the final eight minutes of regulation with Texas Lutheran reclaiming the lead and holding onto it until a pair of West free throws with 4:53 remaining gave LETU an 87-86 lead. The free throws would be part of eight straight points for LeTourneau to take their largest lead of the game with just 3:05 remaining in the game. TLU managed to keep things interesting by cutting the game to a one point deficit on a pair of Jackson Willoughby free throws, but Colhoff would manage to slip into the lane and get a layup to put LETU up by a score of 98-95 with 1:06 remaining. Colhoff and Sam Talbert then managed to hit one of two free throws each in separate trips to the free throw line which would allow for LETU to escape with the comeback victory as Texas Lutheran saw a 35-foot game-tying three hit off the backboard as time expired.

"I'm really proud of our guys for showing tremendous heart in the second half and always believing they could get over the hump and win despite being down 24" said head coach Dan Miller in a post-game interview. "You could tell we haven't played a game in a while and TLU played an excellent first half while shooting lights out." "At halftime I challenged our guys to play with passion on defense and loose on offense which they responded and answered the call." "That is a good TLU team that we found a way to get a win over today."

Shooting the ball at a 59.46 percent (22-37) clip in the second half, LETU managed to finish 35-72 (48.6 percent) from the field while knocking down 21 of 25 (84 percent) free throws. LeTourneau also managed to hold a 37-33 advantage on the glass in the game and score 46 points in the paint along with 19 second chance points.

West would lead all players with 24 points in the game and add four assists and six steals while Caylab Herrera and Colhoff each had 19 points. Moore pitched in 17 points and nine rebounds while Caleb Loggins rounded out all five starters in double-figures with 11 points and five boards. TLU was led by a team-high 23 points from Alex Cage while Sebastian Andrade had 15 points and seven rebounds.

Tomorrow will round out non-conference action for the YellowJackets this year when LETU takes on host Schreiner University at 4 p.m. in the SCAC/ASC Holiday Challenge.