KERRVILLE, Texas – A career-high 25 points for junior Caleb Loggins paced the LeTourneau University men's basketball team to a 90-82 road win at Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas on Saturday, December 30th.
 
With the victory, LETU has now won three straight games to improve to 9-2 overall with a 6-1 non-conference mark while the host Mountaineers slipped to 3-8 overall.
 
Blake Kelley for Schreiner and Loggins for LeTourneau would set the tone early for both teams with Kelley scoring the first 13 points of the game for the Mountaineers and Loggins scoring 12 of his own in the opening 12 minutes. Following an 11-10 YellowJacket lead with 15:30 left in the first half, Schreiner would score seven of the next nine points to jump out to a 17-13 lead which would be held up to the 12:12 mark.
 
An Alec Colhoff triple with 10:36 left in the first half allowed for LETU to reclaim a 23-21 lead as part of a 7-0 run to give the YellowJackets some breathing room heading into the final nine minutes of the first half. Schreiner responded by cutting the lead back down to one at 31-30 with five minutes left in the opening period, but would be held to just a single point the rest of the way while allowing 12 points to LETU which included four points in the final minute by sophomore Nate West.
 
LeTourneau's double-digit lead would be maintained momentarily to open the second half as Schreiner would keep the pressure on the YellowJackets by cutting the lead to five at 48-43 with 16 minutes left in the game. LETU would respond with a quick pair of buckets and free throw to get the lead back to 10, but the Mountaineers refused to let LETU find a comfortable margin. An Andrew Sparks three with 13:25 left in the second half pulled SU to just a four-point deficit at 56-52 before the YellowJackets saw Loggins and Justin Moore take over and score 11 of the next 13 points of the game while helping LeTourneau to a 13-2 run and open a 15-point lead at 69-54.
 
A transition layup by Chrisitan Seidl at the 4:51 mark gave the YellowJackets their largest lead of the game at 80-63 as LETU would look to run away with the easy victory until Schreiner would go on a 7-0 run over the next 1:26 to cut the lead back to 10. Three-point shooting for the Mountaineers cut the LeTourneau lead down to single digits with 1:44 left in the game follwed by a pair of Keenan Gumbs free throws which put the score at 86-80 in favor of LETU. Three consecutive free throws by West along with a Moore free throw gave the YellowJackets enough breathing room in the final seconds as Schreiner could only muster a tip-in with 13 seconds left to hang on for the eight-point victory.
 
"Today was a great team win at Schreiner as any time you get a true road win in college basketball you feel pleased" said head coach Dan Miller in a post-game interview. "The final score may not have reflected it, but we did some good things defensively throughout." "We still have a lot to improve on both offensively and defensively, but this team knows how to win and believes in each other." "We will enjoy this tonight but be ready to get back to practice on Monday and keep getting better."
 
Fast break points and points in the paint played a key role in the YellowJacket win with LETU outscoring Schreiner 10-0 in fast break points and holding a 34-26 advantage in points in the paint. LeTourneau managed to finish 33 of 60 (55 percent) from the field and hit nine of 22 three-point attempts (40.9 percent) as the rebounding battle ended in a 38-38 deadlock.
 
Seidl's seven points off the bench would be the only bench points of the day for the YellowJackets as all five starters carried the load once again for LETU. Loggins added 12 rebounds to go with his career-high point output while West added 21 points, four rebounds and four assists. Colhoff hit three triples to score 16 points with Moore (11 points) and Caylab Herrera (10 points) also scoring for LETU. Gumbs managed to lead all scorers in the game with 30 points for the Mountaineers.
 
American Southwest Conference action resumes next Thursday night in Abilene, Texas with LETU taking on McMurry University at 7:30 p.m. The Warhawks currently sit second in the ASC West at 3-2 in conference and 4-6 overall with a home game against Southwestern University on Saturday evening.