TYLER, Texas – Behind four starters in double-figures and a career-high 11 points off the bench for freshman Andrew Eberhardt, the LeTourneau University men's basketball team would pull away late for an 82-68 victory on the road over Texas-Tyler at the Herrington Patriot Center in Tyler, Texas on Saturday, January 26th.
 
LETU picked up their 12th win of the year to improve to 12-7 overall on the season while the Patriots slipped to 8-12 overall after dropping their second-straight game.
 
How It Happened:

• The YellowJackets would see Texas-Tyler score seven of the first nine points of the game and would trail 7-2 two minutes into the game before a Justin Moore layup would cut the lead down to three.
• Moore's layup would spark a 7-3 spurt for LeTourneau that would give LETU a 10-9 lead as Caleb Loggins would step out beyond the arc to hit a triple with 16:07 left in the first half.
• Both teams would continue the back-and-forth action throughout the opening 10 minutes of action as a C.J. Bird layup and free throw would put the YellowJackets up 17-15 momentarily until a Darius Alford layup tied the game at 17-17 with nine minutes gone by in the period.
• Continuing to battle, LETU would go on a 7-2 run after trailing 21-20 to take a 27-23 lead as the two squads would endure two-plus minute scoring drought.
• The steady offensive flow from LeTourneau would continue into the waning minutes of the first half as the YellowJacket lead would grow to as many as 10 before ending the half with a 39-31 lead at intermission.
• Texas-Tyler would open the second half with an 8-0 run to tie the game at 39-39 just 2:04 into the period but give up an 8-0 to LeTourneau over the following 3:06 which would put LETU up 47-39 with 14:50 remaining.
• A stout defensive effort from the YellowJackets saw the Patriots go 4:56 without scoring as LeTourneau pushed their lead to 12 before a Xavier Fogle triple ended the UTT drought to cut the LETU back to single-digits.
• Another 7-2 run for LeTourneau would give the YellowJackets a 14-point advantage at 58-44 with 11:05 remaining, but the Patriots would refuse to go away quietly and cut the lead back down to seven at 58-51 with 9:48 remaining.
• The LETU lead would hover around the 10-point mark over the next several minutes as the two teams would trade blows on each offensive possession with neither team being able to make any headway on defense.
• After a pair of Texas-Tyler free throws would cut down the LeTourneau lead to seven at 68-61 with 4:41 remaining, the YellowJackets would respond with an Eberhardt triple to put LETU back up double-digits.
• LeTourneau would manage to pull away down the stretch by doubling up the Patriots 14-7 over the final 4:25 and claim a 12-point victory.

Key Stats:

• Two days after hitting just 5-of-20 three's (25 percent), LETU would connect on 13 triples in the game to outscore UTT 39-27 from beyond the arc.
• Limiting their turnovers would also prove to be a big key in the YellowJacket win as LETU would be guilty of just eight turnovers in the game while outscoring Texas-Tyler 15-7 in points off turnovers.
• Leading both ends of the court for LeTourneau would be Loggins with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and five blocks while Nate West and Moore both scored 17 points each. Eberhardt's 11 points would come on 4-of-9 shooting which included three treys while also grabbing a team-high 13 rebounds.  

What's Next?
LeTourneau will go for their sixth-straight victory over Texas-Tyler when they turn around and host the Patriots for the second consecutive game between the two squads on Thursday, January 31st at 7:30 p.m.