Clarksville, Ark.-The University of the Ozarks men's and women's basketball teams made an impressive road swing through Texas last week, earning two victories each to open their American Southwest Conference schedule.
By Larry Isch, Director of Public Relations The Eagles defeated Schreiner College 77-70 on Thursday in Kerrville, Texas, and then slipped past Texas Lutheran 70-69 on Saturday in Seguin, Texas, to improve to 6-0 on the season and 2-0 in ASC play. The Lady Eagles defeated Schreiner 92-69 and Texas Lutheran 84-53 to move to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference. Against Schreiner, the Eagles outscored the home team 39-32 in the second half to break a 38-38 halftime tie. Travis Acord and Michael Young each scored 15 points and Brent Gibbs added 14 for the Eagles. In the victory against Texas Lutheran, the Eagles trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half before rallying for the one-point victory. Senior point guard Donald Williams led the Eagles with 14 points, Daniel Watson had 12 and Eric Whisenant, Acord and Gibbs each had 10. "Anytime you can go on the road and win conference games, it’s big," said Ozarks Coach Johnny Johnson. "These conference crossover games count in the league standings this year, so that made those games even more important. Both games were close and hard-fought, but we found ways to win each one." The Lady Eagles used a hot-shooting night from three-point range to defeat Schreiner. Led by Lacey Johnson’s 5-for-5 performance, the Lady Eagles hit 13-of-19 (.684) from three-point range. Johnson and former Lamar High standout Mandy Thomas each had 17 points to pace Ozarks. Against Texas Lutheran, ASC Preseason Player of the Year Christie Shuffield had 21 points and eight rebounds, freshman forward Jenna Corbell added 14 points and eight rebounds, and Thomas added 13 points. "It was two big wins for us to start out 2-0 in the conference," said Ozarks Coach Jack Jones. "I don’t think we’ve ever shot that well from three-point range like we did against Schreiner. Against Texas Lutheran we shot the ball well again, but we most of the damage from the inside with Christie, Mandy and Jenna. Overall, I was very pleased with our performance in both games. it’s been awhile since we’ve played that well on the road in back-to-back games." The Eagles and Lady Eagles return home this week for a pair of ASC games, against Sul Ross State on Thursday and Howard Payne on Saturday afternoon.
Topics: Athletics