LONGVIEW, Texas – Limiting their turnovers to just seven in the entire game, the LeTourneau University men's basketball team turned in one of their most complete performances of the year to down the University of Ozarks by a final score of 84-63 in Solheim Arena on Thursday, January 25th.
The win allows for the YellowJackets to remain in a tie atop the American Southwest Conference East Division standings with East Texas Baptist while improving to 15-3 overall and 9-2 in the ASC. Ozarks falls to 3-15 overall and 1-10 in the ASC.
"We did what we needed to do tonight and it seemed like we came out on defense with a purpose tonight which frustrated their players early" said head coach
Dan Miller in a post-game interview. "We came out a little sluggish in the second half and Ozarks played well but we pulled away towards the end and I was pleased with our victory tonight."
In addition to limiting themselves to just seven turnovers in the game, LeTourneau held a commanding 30-3 advantage in points off turnovers in addition to shooting 42.7 (32-for-75) from the field in the game. A tight rebounding battle saw LETU hold a 42-39 advantage on the glass while also picking up 10 steals as part of forcing 20 Ozarks turnovers.
Senior
Alec Colhoff turned in a team-high 23-point performance on the night and added five rebounds while
Justin Moore and
Caleb Loggins each put up 13 points. Sophomore
Nate West and senior
Caylab Herrera each scored 12 points while Loggins grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to go along with two assists and two steals in just 21 minutes of action. Ozarks was led by 17 points off the bench from Skyler Barnes.
The Eagles came out of the gates swinging to open the game, hitting a three before to open the scoring and taking a 5-3 lead on a transition bucket with 17:34 left in the first half. An 18-2 run by the YellowJackets quickly put an end to the initial surge by the Eagles as LETU would claim a 21-7 lead with 13:19 left in the first half and never see Ozarks get any closer the rest of the half than 13 points. LeTourneau's biggest lead of the first half would come with 2:24 remaining before halftime on a
Javaughn Dantzler free throw to put the lead at 47-25 in favor of the home team as LETU would take a 49-30 lead at intermission.
In the second half, Ozarks would again open things up strong by scoring five straight points to get back within 14 at 49-35, but it would again be all LeTourneau as the YellowJackets would take over and push their lead back out to the 20-point threshold. The Raising Cane's Challenge would be met at one of the earliest points in the season to date, as a West three with 9:47 left in the game put LETU over the 70-point mark before seeing LeTourneau take their largest lead of the game with 4:49 left in the second half at 80-48. Things would get sloppy on both ends down the stretch as Ozarks would close out the game on a 16-6 run, but it would all come with the game having already been decided.
Saturday will feature a rivalry renewed for the YellowJackets, playing host to the University of Texas-Tyler at 4 p.m. The Patriots fell on the road to East Texas Baptist by a final of 80-79 on Thursday night after seeing a game-winning three go in as time expired for the Tigers.
