LONGVIEW, Texas – First-year head coach James Wallace believes his LETU program made huge strides in Thursday's 67-58 win over Sul Ross State at Solheim Arena.

"I thought our guys battled tonight," Wallace said. "We got big stops down the stretch, finishing defensive possessions with rebounds. That's an area we needed to improve and I thought we gave a focused effort to do that."

After the lowest output in a half this season, LETU's offense found its footing in the second half, led by Warren Richardson's third double-double of the season. He finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks.

In a putrid first half for both teams, Wallace implored his normally high-octane offense to get perform at their usual proficiency. Averaging 94 points through the first four contests, the YellowJackets trailed 13-8 halfway through the first 20 minutes of action.

After a jumper by Julian Paredes pushed the visitors edge out to seven with 9:11 remaining in the opening period, LETU closed with a 20-9 spurt. Deonte Jackson jumpstarted the rally with eight points in 33 seconds. He knocked down back-to-back three pointers before picking the pocket of Lobos' guard Trey Nelson and finishing with a pullup jumper on the break.

Coming out of the break, the YellowJackets outscored Sul Ross State 17-7 and building their biggest advantage of the night at 45-31, with just over 13 minutes remaining in regulation.

The Lobos held LETU scoreless for nearly six minutes as part of a 15-2 run, slashing the deficit to one.

Christian Adams ignited another rally and vaulting the home side to victory with a layup. Adams highlights woke the fans up early in the second half, dishing out a pair of alley oops to Richardson.

Andrew Eberhardt, who entered the contests ranked second in the conference with 27.0 points per game, was held in check until the final six minutes. He outscored Sul Ross State 13-12 down the stretch, securing his first double-double this campaign. He tallied 15 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.

Up Next:
Sul Ross State: at UT Dallas, Saturday, Dec. 4, 3 p.m.
LETU: vs. Howard Payne, Solheim Arena, Saturday, Dec. 4, 3 p.m.

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