JACKSON, Miss. - Facing a tough and resilient Belhaven University squad, the East Texas Baptist University men's basketball team escaped with a 75-66 win on the road. With one game to go, the Tigers are currently 14-7 overall and 7-4 in the American Southwest Conference. Sitting with a .636 winning percentage in the ASC East Division, ETBU still has a chance to win the division on Saturday depending on other outcomes.
 
Leading the Tigers was Charlie Cochran with a double-double scoring 31 points and recording 11 rebounds. Chris Haynes finished with 12 points and seven rebounds while Jay Williams tallied 11 points. Matthew McMillan led BU with 19 points on five threes. 
 
Despite being outshot beyond the arc, ETBU would finish with a 46.8% to 42.6% edge in field goal range. The Tigers controlled the paint with 50 points while holding BU to 32. They also finished with 36 rebounds while allowing the Blazers to grab 25. 
 
The Tigers would open the contest with the first nine points of the game. Behind six points from Cochran after being up 14-7, ETBU extended their lead to 20-7 halfway through the first half. But that was when BU started to put together their first major run. Scoring 16 of the next 24 points, the Blazers trimmed the lead to 28-23. Cochran then propelled himself for 15 first half points while Cody Hunter's buzzer-beater in the first half gave ETBU a 35-25 lead at halftime.
 
When the second half began, the Blazers would rally for 10 straight points to tie the contest at 35. The Tigers then took their with a run of their own to lead by nine, 49-40 (13:40), with Cochran scoring 10 of the 14 points. Yet again, the Blazers would have an answer going on a 14-6 run (13:26-7:59) to trail 55-54. Haynes would step up with four straight points while Cochran's dunk (6:26) and a three by Williams (5:55) gave ETBU a 10-point lead again (64-54). Still, BU responded with another run to trail 65-61 with 2:39 to go. In the end, Cochran (2:15) and Logan Blow (1:36) helped pushed the Blazers away as the Tigers would close them out with the win. Despite some intense runs by ETBU, not once did they concede the lead all game long.
 
ETBU will finish out the regular season on Saturday at Louisiana College in Pineville, La., starting at 3:30 p.m.