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LeTourneau University – Sports

BASKETBALL

LONGVIEW, Texas – Having five players score in double-figures including a game-high 20 points from freshman Justin Moore, the LeTourneau University men’s basketball team never trailed in a 105-78 drubbing of Austin College at Solheim Arena on Wednesday, November 15th.

LeTourneau improves to 1-0 with the victory while the visiting Kangaroos dropped their season opener to fall to 0-1 in a matchup that will see the two teams face off again on Monday, November 27.

The YellowJackets got off to a quick start out of the gates, opening the game on a 9-0 run with all nine points coming in the paint or at the charity stripe. AC finally got on the board with 17:24 left in the first half and would cut the LETU lead to 11-7 on a layup by Austin Wells.

A pesky ‘Roo team would pull within four on a layup by Michael Holland with 13:29 left before the half when a 6-0 lead allowed LeTourneau to take their first double-digit lead of the game. The point would be extended to 12 on a Moore three-point play to put LETU 37-25 followed by an Alec Colhoff three as part of a 12-0 YellowJacket run.

Senior Sam Talbert would put LeTourneau over the 50-point mark in the first half with a triple with 3:05 remaining in the first half as the YellowJackets took a 56-23 lead into the break thanks in part to five treys in the opening 20 minutes.

The second half would be more of the same as LETU extended their lead to 29 at 64-35 with 17:16 left in the game as the ‘Roos had no answer for the YellowJacket offense. A Moore Layup with 15:53 and foul sent the freshman to the free throw line to give fans in the building Raising Canes chicken fingers for meeting the Canes Challenge by scoring 70 points, with LeTourneau in full control heading into the final 10 minutes of the game.

LETU’s largest lead of the game came with 4:36 left in the second half with senior Justin Eadeh knocking down a triple to give the YellowJackets a 100-62 lead with LeTourneau eclipsing the century mark for the first time since February 11th of last season. Things would finally slow down for the potent LETU attack down the stretch, with Austin College pulling back within 27 which would be the final margin of victory.

Sixty-two of LeTourneau’s 105 points would be in the paint where the YellowJackets held a 62-44 advantage. Fast break points would break by a tally of 24-10 in favor of LETU while points off of turnovers would also be in LeTourneau’s favor by a score of 20-14.

Moore (20 points), along with Colhoff (15), Caylab Herrera (14 points), Caleb Loggins (13 points), and Nate West (12 points) all ended up in double-figures, as Loggins fell just one rebound short of a double-double. West would also dish out six assists while Loggins, West, and Moore all had two steals.

A quick turnaround sees LETU play their second exhibition game of the year tomorrow night, heading down to Nacogdoches, Texas to take on Stephen F. Austin University at 7 p.m. The game will be part of a stretch that sees the YellowJackets play four games in five days.

 

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

HOUSTON, Texas – Starting the 2017-18 campaign with their first four games away from Solheim Arena, the LeTourneau University Basketball team could not overcome a tremendous second half from host Houston Baptist University to fall by a final score of 88-43 at Sharp Gymnasium in Houston, Texas on Wednesday, November 15.

The YellowJackets, who trailed the NCAA Division I Huskies by only 12 at the break, fall to 0-1 on the season while HBU improved to 1-1 in their home opener.

Playing up to the level of competition of Houston Baptist, LETU would come out of the gates early on and open the game with a three-point lead after junior guard Jaila Leaven knocked in a trey. LeTourneau’s second three of the game came from senior Ashley Reed and allowed for the YellowJackets to reclaim a 6-4 lead in a first quarter that featured four lead changes.

A quick 4-0 spurt allowed for the Huskies to claim the lead for good at 13-8 as a Sha’Donnaver Young free throw pulled LETU back within four at 15-11 to end the first period. HBU would then open up the second quarter on a 7-0 run before a three by Reed pulled LeTourneau back within single digits at 23-14 as the YellowJackets never let the Huskies pull away in the first half. After trailing by a score of 40-17 with 1:54 left in the first half, LETU would close the half on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 40-28 at halftime.

LETU would hit four of their ten three-point attempts in the first half before going cold from beyond the arc in the second half which would allow for HBU to pull away. The game would remain at a 12 point margin following a Young jumper in the paint with 6:30 remaining in the third quarter before a 13-0 run put Houston Baptist up by a score of 59-32. LeTourneau scored four of the final six points in the quarter, who faced a 62-36 deficit heading into the fourth quarter.

LETU would make one final push early on in the fourth by hitting back-to-back field goals followed by a free throw by Savannah Cummings to keep the deficit at 26 with 7:38 remaining in the game. The YellowJackets would find themselves having an even more difficult time hitting shots, knocking down just one bucket in the final 5:12 of regulation.

HBU used a 17-11 advantage in second-chance points and a 26-13 lead in points off turnovers to earn the victory, despite giving up 20 points in the paint and 19 bench points to LETU. After shooting 27.8 percent from the field (10-36) in the first half, the YellowJackets hit just six of 30 shots (20 percent) in the second half to finish the game with a 24.2 percent field goal percentage.

Freshman guard Keauna Whitfield led LeTourneau with 16 points and was just two rebounds shy of a double-double while Reed had seven points. Junior Karley Patterson would also haul in eight rebounds while adding two assists and one block.

LETU has a week off before returning to action, playing next Wednesday, November 22 at 2:00 p.m. at Texas A&M Commerce. The Lions are 1-2 overall and have a road game at St Edward’s University on Saturday.

Matt Kinney
Sports Information Director