SAN ANTONIO, Texas- Coming fresh off of a double-overtime thriller against Trinity, the East Texas Baptist University men's basketball team used contributions from several players to overcome Southwestern 78-66. ETBU will now improve to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in American Southwest Conference play.
Leading the way for ETBU was
Darrice Whitley with 15 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Dion Mack added 10 points and four rebounds off the bench, while
Landin Brown stuffed the stat sheet turning in seven points, seven rebounds and six assists in the winning effort.
Robby Dooley chipped in eight points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor.
Whitley got things started for ETBU in the opening minute, driving into the lane for a layup to give his squad the early 2-0 advantage. The Tigers would strike again, with
Westin Riddick continuing his hot shooting stretch by knocking down a three pointer (7-2) with 17:57 on the clock in the opening half. Whitley responded less than a minute later with a three of his own to bring the lead to 10-2 early on.
Davis Robinson would increase the Tiger's lead to 12 (23-11) by connecting on a shot from beyond the arc at the 10:30 mark of the half. Mack increased that lead to 15, at 26-11 at the 9:59 mark of the contest by knocking down a three of his own. With 5:26 to go until the break,
Jordan Gosey powered his way to the basket for a three-point play the traditional after sinking the bucket plus the foul to bring the lead to 31-18. Mack scored five of ETBU's next eight points to put the Tigers on top 39-23 heading into halftime.
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The combination of Dooley and Whitley scored the team's first six points of the second half to bring the lead to 45-25 at the 18:50 mark of the ballgame. The Tigers would lead by as many as 23 before coming away with the 78-66 victory.
As a team, ETBU shot 40.8% from the floor (29-of-71) and knocked down 12-of-30 three pointers for a 40% clip from beyond the arc. Defensively, ETBU held the Pirates to 30.7% shooting from the floor (23-of-75) and a pedestrian 3-of-18 shooting (16.7%) from distance.
After finishing the Trinity University Classic at 2-0, Head Coach
Brandon Curran was more than impressed with his team over the last two games.
"Great team effort tonight and for the weekend. The Lord has blessed this team with a spirit of unity and mental toughness. We got big contributions from everyone and were able to improve in late game situations. I'm thankful for the skill and gifts God has blessed these guys with," Curran said.
