LONGVIEW, Texas -- LeTourneau men's hoops had three players record career-best scoring outputs, but Hardin-Simmons' offense proved too much as the YellowJackets fell, 119-106, at Solheim Arena on Friday night.
Teigan Edwards led the way with a career-best 27 points, eight assists, and five steals, while freshmen
Max Frels (16) and
Jayden Prioleau (13) added a combined 29.
The YellowJackets (4-3) also forced 23 Cowboy turnovers, 17 of which were steals, while shooting a respectable 47.1 percent from the field.
In the first half, LeTourneau did not let Hardin-Simmons get going quickly like they did almost a week ago. With 15:11 remaining in the first half, the YellowJackets had built a 13-4 advantage, with Edwards scoring six.
The Cowboys (6-5) responded though, chipping away and then building a six-point lead with about seven minutes to go.
Then the freshmen entered.
Prioleau would hit a fading deep wing triple seconds after entering to cut it down to three, and then Frels used some veteran savvy to hit a bucket of his own to cut it to two. Prioleau added another tough layup to keep it close with 3:40 to go.
The Cowboys persevered, however, building a seven-point lead at half.
In the second half, Hardin-Simmons continued to add to the lead, and with multiple YellowJackets in foul trouble, they were unable to consistently plug away.
Nevertheless, the players did not give up on the game, putting together a couple of stretches, including an 11-4 run to trim it down to nine with 4:02 remaining.
Dalton White,
Jackson Mayes, Edwards, and
Branson Lynn all scored during that run.
Frels also showed some more life late in the game, scoring five points and securing a pair of hustle offensive rebounds to try and keep LeTourneau in it.
In the end, the Cowboys pulled away, using another quick burst to go back up by double digits and cruising from there. Chris Bryant had 29 points and 11 rebounds to pace the team, but four others added double figure scoring. Hardin-Simmons shot 67.8 percent from the field as a unit.
UP NEXT
LeTourneau will play Millsaps in Solheim Arena on Thursday at 5 p.m.
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