MARSHALL, Texas - Fresh off Christmas break, the East Texas Baptist University men's basketball team returns to action as they will play out their final two games of the 2018 year. They will bus their way to Atlanta, Ga. as they will take part in the Emory Holiday Classic competing against Denison University and Emory University.
In their last game before the break, ETBU took part in the Shreveport-Bossier Holiday Classic with a game against Centenary College, where they fell 75-69 to the Gents putting themselves at 5-3 overall. Despite the loss, ETBU had an incredible performance from
Robby Dooley, who scored a game-high 29 points while grabbing six rebounds to lead the way.
Through eight games, ETBU averages 85.1 points per game while holding the opposition to 79.5 ppg. Dooley remains the top scorer with 20.4 ppg and rebounder (6.9 rpg) while
Nathan Fontenot (12.5 ppg),
Landin Brown (11.1 ppg), and
Westin Riddick (10.8 ppg) average double-figures scoring. Brown continues to be the floor general with a team-leading 5.7 assists per game and 18 steals while
Zach Elliott recently picked up his 10th block of the season.
ETBU will face two strong NCAA Division III opponents helping their strength of schedule facing Denison University (OH) and Emory (GA). First up is the Big Red of DU. At 2-6, DU recently fell 95-68 to Capital University. Averaging 69.8 ppg, the Big Red are led by Matt Gerics, who averages 8.9 ppg. Jake Livingston grabs 5.9 rpg on the boards while Matt Doyle collects 3.0 apg.
The Tigers' second game expects to be an even tougher test as they'll encounter EU at their place. The Eagles enter these next two games at 7-2 with a 92-83 win over Berry College. Collectively, EU averages 93 peg while holding opponents to 82.0 ppg. Romin Williams holds key to the scoring lead for EU averaging 17.7 ppg. Lawrence Rowley, who is third with 15.1 ppg, maintains 8.9 rpg while Nick Stuck dishes out 4.1 apg.
ETBU's first contest starts at 1:00 PM central time on Saturday, December 29th while Sunday's December 30th contest takes place at 3:00 PM. Both games are central time.
