KERRVILLE, Texas - Returning to action in their first game following Christmas break, the East Texas Baptist University men's basketball team picked up where they left off by securing a 92-85 win against Schreiner University. ETBU now has a four-game winning streak as they are currently 7-2 overall.
All five of ETBU's starters plus one bench player collected double-figures in points.
Robby Dooley led the way with 19 points and two steals.
Landin Brown (15 points) led the team with five assists and seven rebounds while
Jordan Gosey and
Nathan Fontenot each had 12 points.
Westin Riddick tallied 11 points while
Darrice Whitley scored 10 points for ETBU. SU had two players with over twenty points as Keenan Gumbs (29 points) and Blake Kelley (21 points) led the team. Gumbs also led SU with nine rebounds while Luis Mancillas was the assist leader with six.
ETBU was only able to win the field goal battle as they made 53.1% from the field while holding the Mountaineers to 45.9%. SU outshot ETBU from three-point range (36.0%-28.0%) and converted 80% of their free throws to ETBU's 65.4%. But the difference came from ETBU's 46 points in the paint and 25 bench points. They also made made 18 points of turnovers and 17 second chance points that proved vital in the win.
The two teams started the game trading baskets in the first five minutes beginning with a three by Whitley. Layups by Gosey (18:44, 18:10) and Dooley (16:45) helped make the score 9-6 before a 4-0 run by SU made it 10-9 at 15:47. SU would then lead 14-11 at 14:25 on a jumper by Josh Bashford before a three-point play by
Davis Robinson and a three-pointer by
Nathan Fontenot gave ETBU a 17-14 lead at 13:55. ETBU then led 20-16 (13:27) on a three by Riddick only to see SU charge back with a 16-3 run (12:24-8:47) to lead 32-23. SU would soon reach their largest lead of the game at 39-29 with 5:13 to go. But ETBU would finish the first half strong with a 10-2 run, which included seven points by Brown in the stretch. At halftime, ETBU trailed 41-39.
The second half started slow for ETBU as SU jumped on a 6-2 run to lead 47-41 in the first sixty-two seconds. But the Tigers answered with a 10-4 run (18:17-16:21) to tie the game at 51 courtesy of six points by Riddick (17:03, 16:21) and layups by Dooley (18:17) and Whitley (17:37). Over the next six minutes, ETBU and SU would keep the game tight with neither team building a lead larger than four. With 9:29 to go, Gosey tipped in a basket to give ETBU a 64-62 lead that would never be overtaken. Following a jumper by Fontenot (8:42) to lead 66-62, SU would answer with three straight points to trail 66-65 with 7:55 to play. But from 7:01-6:13, ETBU answered with five straight points to lead 71-65. The Mountaineers would charge back with a 9-4 run to cut the lead to 75-74 with 4:20 to go. But the backcourt tandem of Brown and Dooley would team up for the next seven straight points from 3:59-1:47 to give ETBU an 82-74 lead. This would prove to be the difference as ETBU would secure their first ten point lead of the contest at 86-76 (1:11) before finishing the game with a 92-85 win.
ETBU will finish out 2017 with a game vs. Texas Lutheran tomorrow at 12:00 pm.
