LeTourneau University – Sports

 

MEN’S BASKETBALL

 

BROWNWOOD, Texas – Sophomore guard Nate West recorded just the second triple-double in school history and the 12th in American Southwest Conference history to lead the LeTourneau University men’s basketball team to a 98-63 road win at Howard Payne University at the Brownwood Coliseum in Brownwood, Texas on Monday, December 11.

LETU concludes their ASC weekend road trip with a 1-1 record to improve to 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the ASC while the host YellowJackets fell to 2-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play.

Looking to rebound from Saturday’s road loss at Sul Ross State, LeTourneau would come out of the gates firing and jumping out to a quick lead by scoring nine of the first 10 points in the opening four minutes of action. Howard Payne would cut a once eight-point lead down to five on a De’Marcus Hurd triple, but five straight points by West would give LETU their first double-digit lead of the game.

An 8-0 run over a span of 1:37 would push the LeTourneau lead out to 19 points with 12 minutes remaining in the first half as HPU would have no answer for a potent YellowJacket offensive attack that would appear to be making up for missed opportunities on Saturday. Howard Payne would manage to get the LeTourneau lead back down to single digits at 24-15 with 8:42 remaining in the first half, but it would be short-lived as Christian Seidl would hit a three to cap off a 14-5 run to put LeTourneau up by a score of 38-20. They made a total of 15 points before the final 3:10 as Howard Payne would manage to get back within 15 to make the score 44-29 at the half.

LeTourneau would appear to be out to make a statement to start the second half as the 15 point lead would quickly grow to 19 following a West layup with 17:58 remaining in the game before both offenses would finally slow down. Despite a total of just seven points scored over the next 5:18 of game action, LETU would take their first 20-point lead of the game at 59-39. It was thanks to a Caylab Herrera layup with 12:40 remaining in the game and then extend their lead to a 30-point drubbing heading into the back end of the second half.

It would seem as though LeTourneau would score at will down the stretch, as LETU would lead by as many as 38 in the game and put six players in double-figures while falling just two points short of the century mark.

After connecting on 50 percent (16-32) of their shots in the first half, LETU would manage to finish the game shooting 55.2 percent (37-67) from the floor while also hitting 11 three’s (11-24, 45.8 percent). Howard Payne would out rebound LeTourneau 47-40, but could not overcome 50 points in the paint for LETU who also scored 17 points off turnovers.

Nate officially recorded his triple-double by finishing with a game-high 23 points to go along with 11 rebounds and 11 assists. The sophomore was one of four starters in double-figure points as Alec Colhoff (18 points), Caleb Loggins (12 points), and Herrera (11 points) came with the help of Seth Mattson (12 points) and Javaughn Dantzler (10 points) off the bench. All 15 players who suited up for LeTourneau on the night managed to get on the floor with a total of 10 players scoring for the YellowJackets.

Non-conference action will conclude for LeTourneau the weekend after Christmas when LETU heads to Kerrville, Texas to take part in the ASC/SCAC Challenge. The YellowJackets will play Texas Lutheran University at 12 p.m. on Friday, December 29th before taking on Schreiner University at 4 p.m. on Saturday, December 30th.

Triple-Double: With the triple-double, West joins an elite group of players that now stands at ten that have played in the ASC and been able to complete the rare feat. LeTourneau now has the two most recent American Southwest Conference triple-doubles as sophomore Caleb Loggins was able to record a 20 point, 11 rebound, 11 assist triple-double on February 18th against the University of Ozarks last year. Only Cedric Isom of East Texas Baptist University has been able to record more than one triple-double, recording a total of three in his career. As a school, LeTourneau now has the second most-individuals to record a triple-double in ASC history with only Hardin Simmons (three players) having more individuals to have completed the feat.

 

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

BROWNWOOD, Texas – Unable to find their shooting stroke, the LeTourneau University women’s basketball team would find themselves on the losing end of a 60-45 road loss to Howard Payne University at the Brownwood Coliseum in Brownwood, Texas on Monday, December 11.

LETU concludes their pre-Christmas schedule with a 2-7 overall record and is now 0-4 in the American Southwest Conference while HPU improved to 4-5 overall and 1-1 in the ASC.

In the battle of the YellowJackets, points would be hard to come by for both teams with poor shooting causing both squads to find themselves in a low scoring first quarter. With the score 5-2 in favor of Howard Payne with 6:19 remaining in the opening quarter, HPU would go on and connect on a layup before LETU senior forward Savannah Cummings would answer on the other end of the court with a layup of her own to keep the LeTourneau deficit at three. Howard Payne would then build their lead out to five on two separate occasions, but never could push their lead out any further as LETU would manage to keep the score within three at 13-10 heading to the second quarter.

LeTourneau would come out with one of their better shooting quarters in the second, connecting on their first two shots of the period to pull within one at 13-12 and again at 16-15 with the second chance coming from senior guard Ashley Reed. LETU would get themselves back within a single point one final time with 6:37 remaining in the first half before HPU would hit a jumper followed by two free throws to push their lead back out to five at 22-17 as LeTourneau never could find a way to claim an edge over the YellowJackets. The Howard Payne lead would manage to stay between three and five points for a majority of the rest of the half before a Jada Evans jumper with 25 seconds remaining in the first half would put LETU in their most significant hole they had seen at 28-21 at intermission.

More of the same would be seen to open the second half as LeTourneau would again find a way to cut into the Howard Payne lead and once again pull to within three on three separate occasions but never could find a way to tie the game up. Following a Sha’Donnaver Young three to pull LETU within three for the final time at 34-31 with 6:34 left in the third quarter, HPU would use an 8-1 run to end the quarter. They took their first double-digit lead of the game at 42-32. LeTourneau had work to do in the final 10 minutes of action.

Four straight points to open the fourth by Howard Payne extended their 8-1 run into a 12-1 run before Young would break the scoreless streak for LeTourneau to keep the YellowJackets within 12 at 46-34 while still having 8:31 left in the game to mount a comeback. Tough sledding for LETU saw Howard Payne maintain their double-digit lead for a majority of the fourth as Keauna Whitfield would grab an offensive rebound off her miss and connect on a putback to cut the lead down to 52-43 with 2:55 remaining. Despite the effort, it would not be enough as HPU would hit a pair of treys to put the game out of reach and come away with the 15 point victory.

LeTourneau connected on just 19 of 63 (30.2 percent) of their shots from the field. They hit only two of 17 (11.8 percent) from beyond the three-point line while Howard Payne would manage to go 23-64 (35.9 percent) from the field while hitting four of 17 (23.5 percent) shots from beyond the arc. Turnovers would be an issue for both teams as LeTourneau would be guilty of 17 compared to 15 for HPU with both sides scoring double-digits off turnovers (17 for Howard Payne, 11 for LeTourneau).

LETU was led with three players in double digits as Whitfield (14 points), Young (12 points) and Reed (10 points) all played a vital role in the YellowJacket offense. Whitfield hauled in 10 rebounds to collect a double-double to go along with two assists while Cummings had six points and nine rebounds. Valarie Matlock paced Howard Payne with a game-high 16 points.

LeTourneau will now have an 18-day layoff before returning to action on Friday, December 29th when they will take part in the ASC/SCAC Holiday Classic. LETU will play Texas Lutheran University at 2 p.m. in Kerrville, TX to open the tournament before squaring off against host Schreiner University on Saturday, December 30th at 6 p.m. to close out the 2017 slate.

 

MEN’S BASKETBALL

 

ALPINE, Texas – A 12-1 run by host Sul Ross State University midway through the first half coupled with poor shooting from beyond the arc would end up being the difference for the LeTourneau University men’s basketball team in a 92-82 road loss at the Gallego Center in Alpine, Texas on Saturday, December 9.

The loss moves the YellowJackets to 6-2 overall and snaps a five-game winning streak. LETU is now 2-1 in the American Southwest Conference while the Lobos improved to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in the ASC.

Poor shooting would not be the case early on for LETU as the YellowJackets would come out and hit their first three shots from the field with the first two shots from beyond the arc to take an 8-7 lead over SRSU in the opening minutes of the game. Sul Ross would then use a 6-0 run to claim a 13-8 lead with 14:37 left in the first half before adding to their lead with a Tristen Licon jumper in the paint to extend the lead to six.

A Seth Mattson layup would bring LeTourneau back to within four at 17-13 with 12:50 left in the first half, but Sul Ross would counter with a 10-0 run over the next 3:09 to claim a 27-13 lead. Despite LETU trying to cut into the Lobo lead, Sul Ross would manage to maintain a double-digit lead for the remainder of the first half as the YellowJackets would find themselves in a 49-37 hole at the break.

To open up the second half, LeTourneau would cut into the Sul Ross lead and get the deficit to single digits at 54-49 with 17:32 left in regulation on a Caleb Loggins jumper. The Sul Ross lead would be pushed back out to double digits before getting extended to the Lobos largest lead of the game at 72-51 following a 17-6 run.

The YellowJackets would look to get back into the game having just over nine minutes left to overcome their most massive deficit faced this season, managing to cut the once 21-point deficit down to eight on a Mattson layup and free throw with 1:49 remaining. Sul Ross would respond with three consecutive free throws as LETU would make one last push and get within six at 88-82 with 24 seconds remaining before running out of time to complete a comeback.

“We didn’t get off to a good start, and then we stopped moving the ball on offense and took quick shots,” said head coach Dan Miller in a post-game interview. “We left a lot of points out there on the free throw line and struggled from beyond the arc tonight.” “I was proud of our effort in the second half to fight back in the game, but at the end, we never got over the hump.” “It takes 40 minutes to win a college basketball game, and we need to bounce back and be ready on Monday night.”

LeTourneau wound up shooting 30-72 (41.7 percent) from the floor, but went just 7-28 (25.0 percent) from beyond the arc and missed ten free throws on 15-25 (60 percent) shooting. Sul Ross would use a 41-37 rebounding advantage and score 36 points in the paint to overcome 10 points off ten turnovers for the YellowJackets.

Freshman Justin Moore led the YellowJackets with a team-high 18 points in the game while also snagging two steals. Starters Alec Colhoff (15 points), West (14 points) and Loggins (14 points) all found themselves in double-figures alongside Moore, while Mattson had 11 points off the bench. Loggins would fall just shy of a double-double after adding nine rebounds and two assists to go with his 14 points.

LeTourneau will close out their pre-Christmas schedule on Monday evening, taking on the YellowJackets of Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas at 7:30 p.m. HPU is 2-4 overall this year and 0-1 in the ASC with their only conference game coming as a 98-59 road loss to Texas-Dallas.

 

Women’s Basketball

 

ALPINE, Texas – Battling back from a 13-point third-quarter deficit included junior Jaila Leaven hitting a three to tie the game with three seconds remaining. Then LeTourneau University women’s basketball team saw host Sul Ross State University hit a game-winning three as time expired to hand the YellowJackets a 57-54 loss at the Gallego Center on Saturday, December 9.

LETU is now 2-6 on the season, and 0-3 in American Southwest Conference play while the Lobos improved to 1-6 overall and 1-1 in the ASC.

“Sul Ross is a tough place to play, and we tried to prepare our team for that all week,” said head coach Cassi Rozanski in a postgame interview. “We didn’t come out with the energy and fight that we have to have to win on the road and especially when playing in a tough environment like we faced today.”

A quick start to the game saw SRSU jump out to an early lead with Jasmine Valdez getting the Lobo offense going early before a pair of Savannah Cummings free throws would cut the deficit to 7-4 at the seven-minute mark in the first half. Five of the next seven points would be scored by Sul Ross to extend their lead to 14-6 before senior Ashley Reed would hit back-to-back three’s to cut the Lobo lead down to 14-12 with 1:57 remaining in the first quarter. Another run by Sul Ross allowed for the final six points to be scored by the hosts as SRSU would grab a 20-12 lead at the end of the first.

In the second quarter, LeTourneau would stay within striking distance and try to close the gap on multiple different occasions, but Sul Ross would answer every run that the YellowJackets would go on. Olivia Eweni would spark a 5-0 run by LETU to start the second to cut the SRSU lead to 20-17, but a 4:12 scoring drought for LETU allowed Sul Ross to extend their lead back out to seven at 24-17. LeTourneau would close out the half on a 5-2 run to cut into the Lobo lead and trail by a score of 27-22 at the half.

The Sul Ross lead would stay in single digits for the opening minutes of the second half as LeTourneau would match the Lobo output before a 7-0 run gave SRSU their largest lead of the game at 39-26 with 5:18 remaining in the third. A jumper in the paint by freshman Keauna Whitfield followed by a Reed triple would be just what LETU needed to cut the deficit back to single digits, as Sul Ross would use a 7-2 run towards the end of the quarter to take a 46-35 lead heading into the fourth.

Needing a spark to complete a comeback against the Lobos, LeTourneau would lean on the senior leadership of Cummings to score the opening five points of the quarter and get within six at 46-40 just 93 seconds into the fourth. A pair of SRSU free throws pushed the lead back to 48-40, but a Leaven three and Reed layup brought LETU to their smallest deficit since the first quarter with the score 48-45 in favor of Sul Ross.

Out of the final media timeout of the game, Reed would hit her fourth three of the game to tie things at 48 and then hit a free throw 57 seconds later give LeTourneau their first lead of the game. The game would suddenly turn into a free throw shooting contest as both teams started fouling to extend the game which would find the YellowJackets trailing by three with the ball with nine seconds left in regulation.

Leaven would throw up a deep three over an outstretched SRSU defender and knock in the trey to tie the game with 3.5 seconds remaining as Sul Ross would call a timeout to move the ball into the frontcourt. The final possession of the game would see Lobo guard Erica Powell double-teamed off the inbounds pass before splitting the two defenders and throwing up a last-second shot that managed to go in as time expired.

LeTourneau would shoot 29.2 percent (19-65) from the field and hit six three’s in the game while also holding a 47-41 rebounding advantage over the Lobos. The YellowJackets even managed to limit their turnovers to only 12 while taking advantage of 16 SRSU turnovers for 15 points.

A game-high 19 points by Reed led LeTourneau while Cummings recorded her first double-double of the year with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Whitfield also recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Angalyn Latin led Sul Ross to a team-high 12 point.

LeTourneau will look to rebound on Monday evening with an American Southwest Conference road game at Howard Payne. Tip-off is 5:30 p.m. against the YellowJackets.

Matt Kinney
Sports Information Director