MARSHALL, Texas – Coming up with a split in their last two games, the East Texas Baptist University men's basketball will look to start this week with a heavy-handed schedule of three games. It all begins with a home meeting with rival LeTourneau on Tuesday night, picks up with a road trip to the University of Texas Dallas, and ends with a return trip home in a rematch against Centenary.

Last weekend, ETBU ended a three-game losing streak by picking up an 86-69 victory over McMurry University. Chris Haynes was ETBU's top scorer by posting a career-high 25 points while grabbing seven rebounds in the game. Then on Saturday, the Tigers dropped a tough 83-76 loss to Hardin-Simmons University despite a strong 27-point performance from Robby Dooley.

ETBU continues to be up in the eighties as far as scoring goes with them averaging 82.4 ppg. Dooley still leads the team in scoring although his averaged drop slight to 19.9 ppg. He also maintains the rebounding lead with at least 6.8 per game while Landin Brown averages 5.3 assists per game and 2.6 steals per game. Other stat leaders include Westin Riddick, who leads with 33 made three-pointers while Zach Elliott has blocked 13 shots to this point.

While the team has struggled to put together wins lately, the attitude and mindset of the players hasn't changed as head coach Brandon Curran explains. "Our guys show a lot of character, resolve, resiliency, and concern for each other," said Coach Curran. "When you're focused on yourself and things aren't going your way, I think you're likely to just cash it in and quit. But when you're focused on your brothers and doing something together, honoring the lord and taking advantages of the opportunities he's given you, there is no quit in these guys. They're doing a great job and it's a lot of fun. I just love being with them."

This week will prove to be pivotal for the Tigers as they are playing two teams with the same 4-2 conference as themselves. But ETBU is currently fourth in the division with a 6-6 record behind LETU (8-5) and UTD (10-3).

ETBU will look to get their home crowd going against the Yellow Jackets starting on Tuesday night. Last season saw ETBU take two-of-three from LETU, including a 108-101 ASC conference tournament semifinal victory. Fresh off an 87-73 win over McM, LETU averages 87.9 ppg while holding opponents to 78.8 ppg. Nate West enters the game as the top scorer for both teams with 22.4 ppg and also has a team-high 4.2 apg. Caleb Loggins averages 7.3 rpg while Justin Moore collects 30 steals on the season.
Thursday night will see ETBU head out to Richardson to avenge last season's two losses to the Comets. With an 89-62 win over McM on New Year's Eve, this will be the Comets' first game in 2019. Averaging 81.5 ppg, UTD is led by Dimitrius Underwood, who averages 20.2 ppg, 9.4 rpg, and 2.6 spg while sharing the assists lead at 3.0 per game along with Jalen Weber.

The final game of the week occurs against CC on Saturday at home. ETBU lost to the Gents earlier in the season back in Shreveport. CC is 5-9 right now following a loss to Johnson & Wales University. They average 67.9 ppg with Cedric Harris (16.0 ppg), Treylan Matthews (13.9 ppg), Ty Prince (12.6 ppg), and Kaharri Carter (11.9 ppg) averaging double-figures in scoring.

The night games on Tuesday and Thursday both start at 7:30 PM while Saturday's contest occurs at 3:00 PM.