MARSHALL, Texas – Clutch defensive plays and free throws down the stretch in the final minute of the game gave the East Texas Baptist University men's basketball team an 84-81 triumph over Concordia University-Texas for their first American Southwest Conference win of the season.
Darrice Whitley blocked a shot with 18 seconds to go and then hit two free throws with seven seconds left to give ETBU the three-point win. ETBU now improves to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the ASC East.
Six ETBU players reached double-figures including
Robby Dooley (18 points, 10 rebounds) and Whitley (13 points, 10 rebounds), who both recorded double-doubles.
Westin Riddick added 17 points while
Jordan Gosey collected 12 points.
Landin Brown and
Nathan Fontenot also scored in the double-figures with 11 points each. Brown also led ETBU with five assists. CTX was led by Joe Neal, who posted 23 points while Philip Meikle (14 points), Ephriam Price (13 points), and Ben Page (10 points) all tallied 10 or more points.
ETBU was outshot 48% to 41% from the field. But ETBU outshot the Tornadoes 22.2%-20% from the three-point line and 75%-69.2% from the free throw line. ETBU also outrebounded CTX 43-30 while holding the Tornadoes to zero offensive rebounds in the second half.
After giving up the bucket ten seconds in, ETBU went on a 12-2 run for the next three minutes, which included six points from Riddick, four from Whitley, and two free throws by Gosey for an eight point lead, 12-4. CTX did cut the lead to 12-8, but ETBU then used a 7-4 run to lead 19-12 at the 13:43 mark. Soon, ETBU would reach their largest lead on the game at nine points with a 27-18 lead at 11:07. At the 7:06 mark it would be 35-26 in favor of ETBU after a three by Riddick before CTX would make a run that led them to tie the game at 37 at 3:53 mark. Both teams then took turns trading leads until 19 seconds left when Riddick delivered a layup to give ETBU a 47-46 lead at the half.
The second half played out like the end of the first half with both teams exchanging control of the game. Following a layup eleven seconds in, ETBU put together layups from Dooley (19:06, 17:33) and Gosey (18:35) and free throws by Whitley (15:48). After CTX retook the lead at 57-55 (14:18), ETBU tied it on a layup by Brown sixteen seconds later. Over the next six minutes, neither team possessed a lead of three points until Dooley's basket at 7:58 made it 68-64. The Tornadoes would respond with a 6-1 run from then until 6:24 as they cut the lead to 70-69. ETBU then answered with a 10-5 run (6:24-2:01), which included six points from Gosey in the paint making it 80-74 with 2:01 left to play. The final two minutes saw CTX cut the lead to three at 82-79 with 1:08 left to play. Then with twenty-four seconds left, Whitley made the defensive play with a block shot on a breakaway attempt that would have put the Tornadoes with one point. Whitley would then answer two CTX free throws (:12) with two of his own (:07) to push the lead to 84-81. CTX had the chance to tie, but the final three-point attempt missed and ETBU came away with the win.
ETBU will now host Mary Hardin-Baylor at 4:00 PM this Saturday.
