Tiger Basketball With Wins Over UMHB

MARSHALL, Texas (1/3/2013) – Holding the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (9-3/5-1) to 20 points less than what they average in a game, East Texas Baptist University ended the Crusaders’ eight-game winning streak, 66-57, and gave them their first American Southwest Conference loss of the year. ETBU improved to 6-6 and had as large as a 12-point lead in the first half coming back from four-points down with less than 10 minutes to play.

"This was a big game for us and meant a lot to us to pull out the win. We just take it one game at a time and get better each game,” says senior guard Jaron Joseph.

Chris Collins led ETBU with 15 points shooting 50% from the floor and going a perfect 4-of-4 from the stripe. Joseph scored all 11 of his points in the second half making three free throws and going 4-of-7 from the floor. Junior Mitchell added 10 points and five assists making 6-of-11 free throws going 4-of-4 in the final 1:07. McClahan hit several big shots battling inside with seven points and eight rebounds with three steals.

"We knew if we could get this win it would stir up our conference. We just went out there and battled hard and matched up with them. We have had a hard time finishing this year and in this game we finished in the second half and that was our big accomplishment in the end,” says sophomore forward McClahan.

ETBU’s defense came out strong in the first half holding Mary Hardin-Baylor to just 18% shooting and one three-pointer made (8%). At the 14:10 mark, Cory Meals put UMHB in the lead, 5-4 on a jumper and then two free throws by Collins put ETBU back in front, 6-5, after taking a 4-0 lead to start the game. McClahan started the game quickly with a layup just 16 seconds in and then Mitchell made it 4-0 on a jumper at the 17:39 mark.

With the game tied at eight and 11:53 left in the half, ETBU went on a 12-4 run for an eight point lead, 20-12. Collins started the run making one of his three three-pointers on the night followed by buckets from McClahan, Erby Thompson (three-point play), and Monty Grays. Collins finished the run with two free throws at the 5:50 mark to make it 20-12.

Grays put ETBU up by 10 for the first time at the 3:40 mark on a layup and then J.D. Richardson canned a three-pointer with 1:34 left for a 12-point lead, 27-15. UMHB cut the lead to nine, 28-19 at the half.

UMHB made a short run to start the second half, 12-3, to pull within three, 30-27, but in the next two minutes ETBU posted four points on two free throws and a bucket by Thompson for a seven-point lead, 34-27.

Finding their offensive rhythm, UMHB went on a 15-4 run in five minutes to take a four-point lead, 42-38, which was their largest of the game. ETBU recomposed themselves and answered back on a 12-5 run in three minutes for a three-point lead, 50-47. They never gave up the lead again. Once again Collins triggered ETBU’s run with a three-pointer and ended it with his third three-pointer of the night with 6:19 to play putting an exclamation mark on his play, 50-47. UMHB hit their next bucket to come within one and then had a chance to tie the game on a bonus free throw but Brian Todd missed the opportunity and Justin Felicia posted up on the other end for a shot that put ETBU up, 52-49. After a UMHB turnover, 30 seconds later, Mitchell banked in a layup for the five-point lead, 54-49, with just over five minutes left.

With 4:32 left in the game, UMHB was within three, 56-53, and had a chance to pull within one or tie the game but ETBU’s defense forced another turnover and converted it into a five-point lead, 58-53. The lead never dropped below five after that. At the 1:34 mark, UMHB was within five, 60-55, but ETBU went 8-of-10 from the foul line in that time to secure the win, 66-57.

ETBU held Mary Hardin-Baylor to 29% shooting from the floor and just 16% from beyond the arc as they made just 13-of-22 free throws. ETBU finished shooting 44% making just 23% from the arc and 62% from the stripe. UMHB went crazy on the boards with 48 rebounds to ETBU’s 35.

ETBU will host Concordia University-Texas, who is tied for first place in the ASC West, on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in Ornelas Gym.



14-0 Run to Start Game, Pressure Defense Ignites ETBU Win

MARSHALL, Texas (1/3/13) – Things went East Texas Baptist University’s way from the beginning of the game as they started with a 14-0 lead in the first seven minutes of the game over the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (2-9/1-5) winning their ninth game of the year and improving to 4-2 in the American Southwest Conference. UMHB did not break into double digits on the scoreboard until the 4:26 mark when ETBU had a 22-10 lead.

"Any time you can get a win against a conference opponent it’s a good win,” says head coach Dustin Howard. "Our conference is so tough night in and night out you have to battle for everything that you get and you have to protect your home court. This is a big win.”

Guards Jaimie Kadlecek and April Leonard were two of the three top scorers for ETBU in the victory. Leonard led the team with 14 points, three assists, and four steals, with eight rebounds. Kadlecek followed with 12 points and four steals. Mary Slaughter continued her work under the basket with 14 points and nine rebounds recording three blocks and shooting 70% from the floor.

"Our guards stepped up and made some shots and the press worked a little bit to speed the pace up and in the end we were able to go back to our post play to finish things off. It was most definitely a team effort but wasn’t the prettiest of games but our guards got us through it when we needed them,” says Howard.

A big part of the win was ETBU’s pressure defense as they forced 27 turnovers and had 17 steals earning 26 points off turnovers. UMHB was held to just 19% shooting in the first half not making a three-pointer the entire game going 0-of-11. They finished shooting just 30% overall. ETBU shot just 36% and made just one three-pointer (7%) but made 63% of their free throws.

The energy of ETBU showed from the beginning with the 14-0 start. It took almost three minutes for anybody to score first as Leonard put ETBU on the board at the 16:58 mark. From that point on, ETBU added 12 more points in a little over three minutes. Leonard and Slaughter each produced six points in the run with Amanda Rucker earning the other bucket.

ETBU held Mary Hardin-Baylor to no baskets for seven minutes until Tori Tucker banked one in at the 12:50 mark. The lead was cut to 10, 18-8, with 6:43 remaining but ETBU had the lead back up to 15 points, 25-10, with 3:52 left. UMHB finished the half on a 6-0 run to come within nine at the half, 25-16.

Mary Hardin-Baylor hung around in the first five minutes of the second half as they were brought ETBU’s lead down to five, 29-24, on an 8-4 run. ETBU answered with an 8-0 run over a minute and half to make it 37-24. Kadlecek netted four of the eight points as Leonard had the bucket to push the lead to 13 at the 14:12 mark. The lead was brought down to single digits one more time, 38-30, on a Simone Moreno layup but ETBU responded, again, with a 9-0 run in three minutes for a 17-point lead, 47-30. Morgan Garrett started the run hitting 1-of-2 from the free throw line and then Brandace Latin scored four of the next six points on driving layups with a jumper from Patrice Parker in between. Adaeze Elonu made both of her free shots at the line to make it 47-30 with just under 10 minutes to play in the game. Slaughter gave ETBU an 18-point lead, 56-38, on a jumper with 3:40 to go for the largest lead of the game. UMHB made on last run to come within 10, 56-46, but their steam ran out as the Tigers went on for their ninth win of the year, 59-46.

ETBU will finish out their ASC West play on Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. game vs. Concordia University-Texas who is the 2012 ASC tournament champions and pre-season ASC East favorite.