CONWAY, Ark. - Using a first half where they made 60% of their field goals, the East Texas Baptist University men's basketball team held off Hendrix College pulling away with an 86-75 road win. ETBU enters Thanksgiving break with a 2-1 record. 
 
Robby Dooley led the Tigers with 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting while Zach Elliott (eight-of-nine) and Westin Riddick (five-of-11) scored 16 and 14 points respectively. Landin Brown was one point shy of a double-double to go with 11 rebounds while Nathan Fontenot scored 11 off the bench. Seth Stanley was the Warriors' top scorer with 23 points while Carl Fitch tallied 12 points.
 
ETBU successfully scored 50 points in the paint and 23 points off turnovers to finish shooting 50% in the game from the field. HC's bench would outscore ETBU's with a 35-19 point edge. The Tigers managed to grab 42 rebounds in the game, which was six more than the Warriors collected. 
 
HC started the game with a flourish as they raced to a 10-4 lead (20:00-17:01). ETBU would get four points from Gavin Sabo (16:51, 16:20) before Dooley (15:02) and Riddick (14:17) would give the Tigers a 13-12 lead finishing a 9-2 run. Again, HC would create another run as they surged to scoring eight of the next 11 points for a 20-16 edge (11:58). Following a Fontenot layup (11:45) to bring it within two, Dooley would take over the game as he would record eight straight (10:44-9:53), which saw ETBU up for good in the game 26-20. HC would cut the score to 26-25 (8:25) only for Fontenot to knock down a three (8:08) for breathing room. With 6:56 to play in the half, ETBU led 31-29 before the narrative changed. The Tigers would finish the half on a 21-5 (6:23-0:00) run to lead 52-34. Elliot and Riddick would key the run with a combined 12 points while Dooley (6:23, 5:03), Brown (5:55, 1:24) and Jarrell Taylor (0:01) had buckets as the Tigers led by eighteen at the break. 
 
Elliott would continue his scoring in the start of the second half with four points that saw the Tigers lead by twenty points at 56-36 (18:53), but HC would bounce back starting with a 16-1 run (18:42-14:09) that cut ETBU's lead to 57–52. ETBU would manage to get the double-digit lead back thanks to an 11-5 run (13:58-10:57) with Riddick and Dooley teaming up for nine combined points. Over the next six minutes, ETBU would keep flirting with at least a ten-point margin until 4:15 left when the Warriors would get back to within single digits at 76-69. A HC three pointer then saw a 76-72 score for ETBU who responded with an Elliot layup (2:51). HC would get another three-pointer to be down 78-75 (2:04). Fortunately, this would be the closest HC would get as Dooley's layup at 1:11 would give ETBU a five point edge. Fontenot would then knock down six straight free throws putting the game out of reach with an 86-75 win.  
 
The Tigers will get set for American Southwest Conference play when they travel to Belton, Texas, to take on Mary Hardin-Baylor at 7:30 PM next Thursday.