ALPINE, Texas – A 12-1 run by host Sul Ross State University midway through the first half coupled with poor shooting from beyond the arc would end up being the difference for the LeTourneau University men's basketball team in a 92-82 road loss at the Gallego Center in Alpine, Texas on Saturday, December 9th.
 
The loss moves the YellowJackets to 6-2 overall and snaps a five-game winning streak. LETU is now 2-1 in the American Southwest Conference while the Lobos improved to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in the ASC.
 
Poor shooting would not be the case early on for LETU as the YellowJackets would come out and hit their first three shots from the field with the first two shots from beyond the arc to take an 8-7 lead over SRSU in the opening minutes of the game. Sul Ross would then use a 6-0 run to claim a 13-8 lead with 14:37 left in the first half before adding to their lead with a Tristen Licon jumper in the paint to extend the lead to six.
 
A Seth Mattson layup would bring LeTourneau back to within four at 17-13 with 12:50 left in the first half, but Sul Ross would counter with a 10-0 run over the next 3:09 to claim a 27-13 lead. Despite LETU trying to cut into the Lobo lead, Sul Ross would manage to maintain a double-digit lead for the remainder of the first half as the YellowJackets would find themselves in a 49-37 hole at the break.
 
To open up the second half, LeTourneau would cut into the Sul Ross lead and get the deficit to single digits at 54-49 with 17:32 left in regulation on a Caleb Loggins jumper. The Sul Ross lead would be pushed back out to double digits before getting extended to the Lobos largest lead of the game at 72-51 following a 17-6 run.
 
The YellowJackets would look to get back into the game having just over nine minutes left to overcome their largest deficit faced of the season, managing to cut the once 21-point deficit down to eight on a Mattson layup and free throw with 1:49 remaining. Sul Ross would respond with three consecutive free throws as LETU would make one last push and get within six at 88-82 with 24 seconds remaining before running out of time to complete a comeback.
 
"We didn't get off to a good start and then we stopped moving the ball on offense and took quick shots" said head coach Dan Miller in a post-game interview. "We left a lot of points out there on the free throw line and struggled from beyond the arc tonight." "I was proud of our effort in the second half to fight back in the game but at the end we never got over the hump." "It takes 40 minutes to win a college basketball game and we need to bounce back and be ready on Monday night."
 
LeTourneau wound up shooting 30-72 (41.7 percent) from the floor, but went just 7-28 (25.0 percent) from beyond the arc and missed 10 free throws on 15-25 (60 percent) shooting. Sul Ross would use a 41-37 rebounding advantage and score 36 points in the paint to overcome 10 points off 10 turnovers for the YellowJackets.

Freshman Justin Moore led the YellowJackets with a team-high 18 points in the game while also snagging two steals. Starters Alec Colhoff (15 points), West (14 points) and Loggins (14 points) all found themselves in double-figures alongside Moore, while Mattson had 11 points off the bench. Loggins would fall just shy of a double-double after adding nine rebounds and two assists to go with his 14 points.
 
LeTourneau will close out their pre-Christmas schedule on Monday evening, taking on the YellowJackets of Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas at 7:30 p.m. HPU is 2-4 overall this year and 0-1 in the ASC with their only conference game coming as a 98-59 road loss to Texas-Dallas.