ALPINE, Texas -- The LeTourneau men's basketball team built a double-digit second half lead after trailing at halftime and then held off a late charge from host Sul Ross State to nab an 80-72 victory in ASC action on Thursday night.
It was the second straight conference win for LeTourneau (5-8, 2-4 ASC).
Deonte Jackson scored 21 points and
Jackson Mayes added a career-high 18 points in the win for the YellowJackets. Jackson and Mayes combined for seven of the nine made 3-pointers for LeTourneau, while Jackson dished out five assists and Mayes grabbed seven rebounds.
Christian Adams scored 11 points with eight rebounds with
John Argue and
Walker Blaine adding 10 each. Argue tallied nine boards.
LeTourneau trailed 41-37 at halftime after falling behind by double-digits in the first half.Â
A Blaine 3-pointer gave the YellowJackets a 48-47 lead with 15:24 left in the game and kicked off a 20-8 scoring run over an eight-minute stretch that gave LeTourneau a 65-55 lead. The YellowJackets hit 7-of-10 from the field during the stretch with three 3-pointers, while a
Warren Richardson layup capped the run. Richardson finished with eight points on the night.
Sul Ross (4-10, 2-6 ASC) climbed back into the game with a 10-0 run to tie the game with five minutes left.
For a second straight conference game, LeTourneau came up clutch down the stretch. Mayes gave the YellowJackets the lead for good with a tough layup, assisted by Argue, with 1:50 to go giving LeTourneau a 69-67 edge.
Argue then converted a three-point play after a steal to ice the game as the YellowJackets went ahead 76-67 with under a minute remaining.
LeTourneau connected on 52.8 percent (28-of-53) from the field with nine 3-pointers and 15-of-19 from the line.
Sul Ross was led by 29 points from Trey Nelson and 14 from Julian Paredes. The Lobos were limited to 39.3 percent (24-of-61) for the game, including just 31 percent in the second half.
UP NEXT
LeTourneau stays on the road to face Howard Payne on Saturday (3 p.m.).
Â
