LC sophomore Kevin Cottonham had a shooting night to forget. That is, until the Wildcats needed one the most.
 
With a determined LeTourneau squad having tied the game at 54 with under a minute to play, Cottonham, at that point 0-for-6 from the field, drilled a 3-point basket from the top of the key to put the Wildcats ahead to stay, 57-54.
 
The Wildcats, now 9-5 overall and 9-3 in the American Southwest Conference, sealed the win with two straight defensive stands – the final one resulting in a breakaway layup by Cottonham to make the final 60-54 in front of 412 fans who braved the elements to attend the game.
 
Cottonham, who finished with 12 points overall (7-for-10 from the free throw line), helped rescue the Wildcats from a lowly 31-percent shooting night as the 'Cats made just 19-of-61 shots overall and just 3-of-16 from 3-point range. Cottonham and fellow sophomore Anthony Gaines came into the game averaging a combined 35 points per game, but Gaines, too, had an off night. Slowed by what appeared to be a heel injury, Gaines scored just 9 points on 3-for-11 shooting.
 
Fortunately, the Wildcats got a huge game from their lone senior, Doc Welch, whose 17 points help the Wildcats build a 24-17 lead at halftime and a 16-point lead, with 12:03 to play.
 
But the Yellow Jackets (3-12/2-10) tightened their defense and got hot from the floor – over the game's final 10 minutes. Led by sophomore forward Ladaria Brown's 17 second half points (20 overall), LeTourneau completely erased that deficit when Brown hit a 3-point shot with just under a minute to go. Junior guard Aaron Frizell also contributed 8 of his 11 points in the second half as the Yellow Jackets shot 54-percent in the second half (14-of-26) after a cold 7-for-27 in the first half.
 
With the win, the Wildcats maintained a half-game lead over Concordia for second place in the ASC. The Wildcats return to action Saturday when they host East Texas Baptist at 3 p.m.