ATLANTA, Ga. - Trailing by double-digits at halftime, the East Texas Baptist University men's basketball team's second-half rally came up short as the Tigers fell 84-80 to Denison University (OH) in the first day of the Emory Holiday Classic. ETBU is now 5-4 with one game left in 2018 tomorrow vs. Emory University.

Robby Dooley led the team with 27 points on the night on 70% made field goals. Nathan Fontenot was the only other Tiger in double figures as he finished with 12 points. DU was led by 14 points from Jack Coulter and Conor Fenton.

ETBU made 46.4% of their field goals and had 34 points in the paint to top DU, but it was the rebounding game that was a factor as the Big Red outrebounded ETBU 45-32. In addition, DU's bench outscored ETBU's 45-21.

From the opening tipoff, DU would catch fire starting with eight straight points (20:00-18:47). Dooley would get ETBU on the board (17:26) with a pair of free throws. But the Big Red kept up the offensive game going up 14-2 (15:51). ETBU would soon get going as they put in their first field goal on a Landin Brown layup (14:31) to trail 14-6. Then they followed with a 10-3 run to cut the deficit to trail 17-16 as Fontenot tallied eight points in the stretch. ETBU managed to draw level when Westin Riddick knocked down a three (6:01) to tie the game at 28. However, DU would then swing the momentum to their side as they finished with a 19-6 run to grab the lead 47-34 at the break.

DU extended the lead to 51-34 to start the second half only to see ETBU counter with eight unanswered points by Dooley (18:34-16:35) to trail 51-42. For much of the second half, ETBU battled to overcome a double-digit deficit with DU's largest lead at 65-49 (11:59). With 5:05 to go, a pair of Brown's free throws brought ETBU back to within single digits at 72-63. Dooley then took control as he would lead a comeback effort scoring 11 points in the final three minutes to bring the Tigers within 80-76 (0:45). Despite crucial buckets from Christopher Haynes (0:27) and Brown (0:23), the Big Red secured victory with four free throws in the final seconds at 84-80.

ETBU will look to split their trip as they'll take on Emory University tomorrow at 3:00 PM central time.