ALPINE, Texas - Behind three 20 point scorers, the East Texas University men's basketball team defeated rival LeTourneau University 108-101 to advance to the American Southwest Conference Championship Finals. ETBU will face ASC Tournament host Sul Ross State University on Saturday for the right to advance to the NCAA Tournament. With the win, ETBU improves to 21-6 overall. This is the second trip to the ASC Finals for ETBU since winning the conference title in 2015.
 
Robby Dooley led all scorers on Friday with a career-high 28 points. Nathan Fontenot erupted for 24 points off the bench and Darrice "Poncho" Whitley added 21 points in the victory. Landin Brown chipped in 11 points and five rebounds for ETBU. 
 
LETU's Nate West scored the opening bucket of the game, knocking down a floater in the paint to bring the score to 2-0 in the first minute. Whitley responded for ETBU, driving inside for a layup to knot the game at 2-2 one minute later. The Yellow Jackets answered back by going on an 8-2 run to increase the early lead to six (10-4) at the 16:22 mark of the first half.
 
A three pointer by Brown put an end to the scoring run, cutting the deficit to three (10-7) on the next possession. A driving layup by Davis Robinson capped an ETBU 7-0 run to give the Tigers their first lead of the contest, at 11-10.
 
The ballgame was knotted at 13-13 when a three pointer by Poncho gave ETBU the 16-13 advantage at the 13:25 mark of the half. A three pointer by Fontenot capped another big scoring run by the Tigers to give them the double-digit advantage (24-14) at the midway point of the first 20 minutes. Fontenot knocked down yet another shot from distance on the fast break, giving ETBU their largest lead of the night, at 32-17 with just 9:46 to play till intermission. ETBU went into the locker room with a nine point lead, 55-46.
 
The Tigers were lights out from the field, shooting 51.2 percent (21-of-41) from the floor and 50 percent (6-of-12) from beyond the arc at the half. 
 
Jordan Gosey opened the second 20 minutes by giving the Tigers another double-digit advantage, scoring on a jump hook in the paint to bring the score to 57-46 on the first possession. But LETU refused to go away, embarking on a 12-3 scoring run to climb to within two (60-58) at the 16:36 mark of the contest.
 
A jumper in the paint by Whitley ended the run and pushed the score to four (62-58) on the next possession. ETBU tacked on two more points with a slam by Alan Wilkinson off the feed from Dooley to increase the lead to five (64-59) with 15:30 on the clock.
 
The Yellow Jackets refused to go away, as they outscored the Tigers 19-8 over the next six minutes to take the 78-72 lead. But ETBU would have the answer, sparking a 7-0 run that was capped off with a three pointer by Fontenot, giving the Tigers back the lead, 79-78.
ETBU would lead by eight in the final two minutes (93-85) until a layup by Fontenot put them back on top by 10, 95-85, to seal the victory. The Tigers pulled away 108-101 to the ASC East rival to advance to the ASC Finals for the second time in three years.
 
The Tigers will face-off against SRSU on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 6:00 p.m. for the right of the championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.