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LeTourneau University Athletics

LeTourneau University, opens in new tab
LeTourneau University, opens in new tab
Justin Moore
Natalie Connelly
75
LeTourneau 11-7
81
Winner Ozarks (AR) 6-13
LeTourneau
11-7
75
Final
81
Ozarks (AR)
6-13
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
LeTourneau 29 46 75
Ozarks (AR) 44 37 81

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Contact: Matt Kinney, Sports Information Director, mattkinney@letu.edu

Scoring Woes Down Stretch Hand LeTourneau Men Road Defeat

CLARKSVILLE, Ark. – After overcoming a 15-point halftime deficit, the LeTourneau University men's basketball team would be outscored 9-3 in the final 2:57 of an 81-75 road loss at the University of the Ozarks inside Mabee Gymnasium in Clarksville, Arkansas on Thursday, January 24th.
 
Following the defeat, LETU drops to 11-7 overall and 7-4 in American Southwest Conference action while the Eagles improved to 5-14 overall and 4-6 in conference action as the two teams will square off again next weekend.

"We didn't get the job done on the road last night and it was a frustrating loss" said head coach Dan Miller. "When we figure out that we need to play with energy and focus as well as playing as a team for 40 minutes I think we will really like the results." "Right now we play good basketball for either the first half or the second half but not both." "We have to own that and be driven to change that to get our season trending up heading into the conference tournament."
 
How It Happened:
  • A quick start for the YellowJackets saw LETU score the first five points of the game before seeing Ozarks score five points of the their own which would be followed up by a Christian Seidl layup to allow LeTourneau to reclaim the lead at 7-5 with 17:34 remaining in the first half.
  • LETU would manage to maintain their lead through the opening six minutes of play until a Jacobe Davis jumper tied the game at 11-11 before seeing Justin Moore allow LeTourneau to grab the lead once again with his second triple of the game.
  • A 9-0 UO run would give the Eagles a 20-14 lead with just under 12 minutes remaining in the first half before seeing the YellowJackets respond with a bucket and free throw from senior C.J. Bird to pull LeTourneau back within three.
  • The LETU offense would then go silent as Ozarks scored 11 of the next 13 points with both LeTourneau points coming on separate trips to the charity stripe which allowed the Eagles to grab a 31-19 lead with 7:19 left before halftime.
  • Facing a double-digit hole, the YellowJackets would be unable to make any headway heading into halftime as Ozarks would keep the pressure on LETU and push their lead to 15 which is where it would wind up with the score sitting a 44-29 in favor of Ozarks at halftime.
  • A quick 6-2 spurt to open the second half by LeTourneau brought the YellowJackets back within 11 at 46-35 before eventually getting the deficit down to single digits at 50-42 with 14:52 remaining.
  • The YellowJackets would continue to chip away at the halftime deficit, using an Elijah Gerber layup to get within six at 52-46 but would see five straight points by Ozarks put the Eagles back up double-digits.
  • Seven-straight points by LeTourneau allowed LETU to close the deficit to single-digits for good as the score would sit at 57-53 with 11:40 remaining in the contest with junior Nate West hitting a transition three two minutes later to get LeTourneau within one possession at 61-58.
  • Andrew Eberhardt would allow the YellowJackets to reclaim the lead with a three to put the score at 63-61 in favor of LeTourneau, but Ozarks would be quick to respond by scoring the next four points to hold a 65-63 lead with 6:41 remaining.
  • Back-and-forth things went with Moore getting a layup and free throw to put LETU back on top momentarily as Ozarks would use a 7-2 run to grab a 72-68 lead heading into the final four minutes of action.
  • Moore and West would combine to score the next four points of the contest and knot things at 72-72 before seeing UO score four of the next five points to claim a 76-73 lead with 1:46 remaining.
  • Both squads would trade buckets over the next 1:07 of action to allow Ozarks to maintain a three-point lead as the YellowJackets would be unable to take advantage of two free throws with 21 seconds remaining to cut into the Eagle lead.
  • Ozarks would take advantage of miscommunication by the YellowJacket defense and score a quick layup four seconds later to go up five at 80-75 before adding on one final free throw following an empty possession by LeTourneau to hand LETU a six-point defeat.
Key Stats:
  • UO would make the most of a 54.6 percent (18-of-33) shooting performance in the first half as the YellowJackets would be forced to try and overcome a 9-for-32 (28.1 percent) shooting performance in the first half to finish 28-of-62 (45.2 percent) from the field in the game.
  • Free-throw shooting (14-of-23, 60.9 percent) and rebounding (39-37 Ozarks) also proved to be an issue for LeTourneau Thursday evening, with Ozarks scoring 17 fast break points and nine second-chance points.
  • Leading all scorers in the game would be Moore with 21 points and five assists while Loggins would add 15 points and 12 rebounds. West would be limited to just 13 points in the contest and grab four rebounds to go along with two assists.
What's Next?
LeTourneau will conclude non-conference play with consecutive games against Texas-Tyler beginning on Saturday, January 26th at 3 p.m. in Tyler. UTT and LETU will be meeting for the final two times as NCAA Division III counterparts as the Patriots are in their first year of NCAA Division II Reclassification. Texas-Tyler is 8-11 overall following Thursday's 88-78 home defeat to East Texas Baptist University.
 
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