Clarksville, Ark.-LeTourneau University overcame an Eagles' second half rally to escape with a 90-86 American Southwest Conference win Thursday in Longview, Texas.
LeTourneau (8-5, 7-2 ASC) held a 43-34 halftime advantage. With LeTourneau leading 30-17 at the 8:40 mark, Ozarks (7-7, 5-4 ASC) eventually trimmed it to 34-29 thanks to a Jessie Raglin trey and one of his free throws. The YellowJackets’ lead then ballooned to 43-31 with one minute to play.
Ozarks appeared doomed for an embarrassing double-digit defeat as LeTourneau led 75-57 with just 5:28 to play. However, Ozarks quickly turned things around and went on a 16-7 run over the next four minutes to trim the deficit to single digits. LeTourneau later answered with a pair of free throws to go up 84-73 with 1:09 left. As a shocked LeTourneau team looked on, Mark Perez hit back-to-back three-pointers to put the Eagles within 85-79 with only 41 ticks on the clock. Colby Woolverton sank two free throws ten seconds later to make it a four-point game. Ozarks then fouled and LeTourneau missed both of their free throws to give the Eagles a chance to get even closer. Ozarks did just that when Perez hit a shot with 22 seconds left, getting the Eagles to within 85-83. LeTourneau then made three straight free throws to go up by five points with 13 seconds left. Ozarks refused to go away as Andre Williams hit a trey with 4 seconds left to cut it to 88-86. The YellowJackets finally put it away with a pair of free throws. Ozarks then had one more opportunity, but its desperation three-pointer came up short.
Blake Mitchem led Ozarks with 26 points and eight rebounds. Raglin came off the bench and scored 20 points behind a 5-of-9 three-point shooting performance. Williams added 12 points and Woolverton scored 11 points.
Ozarks returns to action when it faces East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas, Saturday.
Topics: Athletics