Tiger Basketball Has Wins Over Rust College

BASKETBALL (M): MARSHALL, Texas (12/08/12) – Five players finished in double figures as East Texas Baptist University put together a 23-3 run in the second half pulling away from Rust College, 87-65. With 17:25 to play, ETBU trailed by three points when then started their 23-3 run in seven minutes to take a 17-point lead, 66-49, en route to the 22-point win.

"Our senior Jaron Joseph gave us a really good motivational speech at halftime and we came out the second half and started rolling,” says men’s basketball player Erby Thompson.

Thompson finished with 15 points going 5-of-8 from the floor making 3-of-4 three pointers. Jaron Joseph led the pack of scorers with 10 points only missing three shots from the floor (8-of-11) in just 19 minutes of play. Kerry McClahan recorded his second double-double of the year with 15 points and 12 rebounds and then Junior Mitchell fell one assist shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine assists. Monty Grays finished off the scoring with 10 points making 4-of-5 shots from the floor. Rust’s Larry Veasley led his team with 17 points.

With just a two-point lead at the half, ETBU fell behind Rust early in the second half as they opened up the second half with a 9-4 run to take the three-point lead, 46-43. Mitchell started the 23-3 run with 17:16 left in the game and then a Thompson three-pointer put ETBU ahead for good at the 16:42 mark. ETBU’s defense went eight minutes holding Rust College to no baskets from the floor as they only made free throws. Trevin Burks three-pointer at the 17:25 mark was the last shot Rust would make until the 9:08 mark on a layup by Chris Gamble. ETBU pushed their lead to 23, with 4:21 left in the game, on Thompson’s final three-pointer of the night, 76-53.

In the first half, Rust had a four-point lead, 36-32, with 2:41 left when ETBU finished the half on a 7-1 run to take the two-point lead at the half. Grays, McClahan, and Joseph all scored in the run to put ETBU ahead.

ETBU shot a season best 55% from the floor as they snapped their five-game losing streak and earned their first win in Ornelas this year. They made 35% of their three-pointers and 6% of their free throws. They forced 17 turnovers and Rust finished shooting just 37% from the floor and 53% from the stripe. ETBU also out rebounded Rust, 43-27

ETBU will play next on Saturday, December 15th, in Brownwood, Texas, in an American Southwest Conference game vs. Howard Payne.



Latin's Second Half Spark Spurs ETBU to Victory

BASKETBALL (W): MARSHALL, Texas (12/08/12) - Holding Rust College to just one bucket from the floor in the final 4:36 combined with a 8-3 run put East Texas Baptist University ahead for good as they pulled out the one-point win, 58-57. Brandace Latin put in 12 of her 17 points in the second half to lead ETBU to their fifth win of the year which is just one win shy of the number of games they won in all of 2011-12.

Latin put ETBU ahead for good with 1:31 to play after she stole the ball away from Rust’s Telicia Gayden and went coast-to-coast for the easy layup, 56-54. Just before that, at the 2:46 mark, she tied the game at 54 hitting 1-of-2 from the foul line. ETBU’s defense worked over Rust College as they came back from a five-point deficit with 6:18 to play. Rust College’s Anissa Wilder converted a three-point play with 6:18 left to push their lead to five, 48-43. From that point on, ETBU’s defense clamped down on Rust College and responded with a 15-9 run in that time.

"Luckily I had a chance to get some steals in the game and get us back into it because we need something as we did not score in a while. I got some steals and layups that put us right back into it,” says Latin.

Latin finished the game with 17 points to lead all scorers posting three steals and six rebounds in 25 minutes of play. Mary Slaughter earned her 24th career double-double, her second in as many games this season, with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while recording four blocks. Demetrius Bradshaw led Rust with 13 points.

"Rust made a good run on us in the second half and we got down a little bit and gave up our lead but then we got a spark from Brandace Latin with a couple of steals to get us going. That spark proved good enough for us to pull out the win,” says head coach Dustin Howard.

Rust College’s largest lead was five with 6:18 to play in the game when Latin sparked the offense. Latin started the 15-9 run scoring the first five points by grabbing the defensive rebound and then taking it down the court to bank in a layup bringing the lead down to three, 48-45. She followed that with a steal and then on the next ETBU possession banked in another layup putting ETBU within one, 48-47. With 4:47 left in the game, she went 1-of-2 from the stripe to tit eh game at 48.

Once again, Rust College built their lead up to four with 3:31 left on four consecutive free throws. With 3:31 left, ETBU trailed by four, 54-50, but just 24 seconds later April Leonard hit her only three-pointer of the night as ETBU was back within one, 54-53. Latin added points three more points in the run with a free throw to tie the game at 54 and then gave ETBU the lead for good, 56-54, on another layup off her own steal with 1:31 left. After it was all done, Latin scored eight of the 15 points in the run coming in the last 6:18.

Both teams battled in the first half as Rust had the early four-point lead, 6-2 , before ETBU went on a 13-4 in seven minutes for a five-point lead, 15-10. Morgan Garrett gave ETBU their largest lead of the game with 4:25 left in the first half on a three-point shot. ETBU took a six-point lead into the locker room, 28-22.

ETBU finished shooting 36% from the floor, 44% from beyond the arc, and 52% from the stripe while forcing 20 turnovers with 11 steals. Rust came away shooting just 31% from the floor, 21% from the three-point line, and 66% from the free throw line. They out rebounded ETBU, 49-43, but the five missed free throws were the difference in the game.

ETBU will not play for a week as they travel to Brownwood, Texas, on Saturday, December 15th, for an ASC contest vs. Howard Payne.