ABILENE, Texas - After clinging to a two-point lead at halftime, the East Texas Baptist University men's basketball team would erupt for 55 points in the second half on their way to a 92-77 win over McMurry University. By completing the sweep of both Abilene schools in the American Southwest Conference, ETBU is currently 9-2 overall and starts their conference season 2-0. 

Colton Collins would come off the bench and light up the War Hawks with 22 points, including five three-pointers. Chris Haynes recorded a double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds while both Robby Dooley (15 points) and Landin Brown (14 points) finished in double-figures. Cody Leblanc would lead McM with 19 points while Krishawn Terry added 11 points.  

Outshooting the War Hawks 44.1% to 33.8% from the field, ETBU would only make nine three-pointers, which was two less than McM. ETBU controlled the paint scoring 40 points in the area while their bench just barely outscored McM's bench 36-32. In addition, ETBU out rebounded the War Hawks 54-37.  

ETBU would struggle to get on the board for the first five minutes of the game while the War Hawks scored their first nine points. ETBU could only manage a Collins' three-pointer (14:42) and free throws from Brown as McM would up their lead to 13-5 (11:42). Fontenot would put together four straight points (10:44-10:13) while Collins notched two more treys (9:53, 8:31) to make it 17-15. McM would notch a five-point edge at 28-23 with 4:39 left in the half only to have ETBU tie the game at 30 following a Haynes layup (2:28). The Tigers got their first lead when Westin Riddick (2:01) nailed a three. ETBU would then take a halftime lead of 37-35.  

The two-point lead stayed the same until ETBU started to separate themselves with nine straight points (16:35-15:13). While Haynes and Dooley would put up strong performances in the second half, Collins would start to heat up scoring 13 points, including nine in a span of nearly three minutes (9:42-6:53). ETBU's lead would increase to as large as 19 points (85-66) as they would go on to a 92-77 victory.


The Tigers return home to Ornelas on Thursday at 7:30 PM when they take on the University of Texas Dallas.