LONGVIEW, Texas -- With over 1,000 fans in attendance at Solheim Arena, LeTourneau prevailed over arch-rival East Texas Baptist, 78-70, on Thursday evening. 

The game was defined by LeTourneau's resilience, as they held off several ETBU runs throughout the late first and second half to hold onto the lead and the eventual victory. 

The YellowJackets (15-5, 2-2 ASC) had five players score in double figures, headlined by Deonte Jackson's 19. Jackson Mayes added 13, while Walker Blaine and Teigan Edwards had 11 and Caedmon Liebengood scored 10. 

LeTourneau came out firing in the first half, going on a 21-8 run to open the game. Connor Miller hit three 3-pointers in this stretch to propel the YellowJackets into the early lead.

Later in the half, Mayes would hit a triple to give LeTourneau a 17-point lead, and then he added a layup to make the lead 18, the largest lead of the half.

The Tigers fought back valiantly, however, clawing all the way back to within five at the half.

An early 6-0 second half run for the YellowJackets got the advantage back to nine, and the lead would get as high as 11 thanks to a Blaine layup with 13:38 to play.

After another run by ETBU to bring it back to five, LeTourneau answered again with a Teigan Edwards jumper and Blaine layup to get it back to a 10-point lead. 

The Tigers, not to be outdone, authored a final stretch run and got to within four with 3:16 to go. 

The YellowJackets were not to be denied, however.

Jackson's corkscrewing and-1 layup gave the YellowJackets some initial breathing room, and then Blaine and Edwards hit a pair of layups in the final 1:25 to put the game away.

The Tigers (6-15, 2-2 ASC) were led by Jason Justice's 25 points and Michael Roberts' double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds. 

UP NEXT

The YellowJackets head on their final weekend road trip of the regular season, beginning next Thursday against Hardin-Simmons at 7:30 p.m.

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