Wildcats Fall to Tigers

1/18/2018 10:49:00 PM

By: LC Sports Information - Brad Welborn

Box Score

A big second half shooting performance from East Texas Baptist University kept the Louisiana College men's basketball team from making it two American Southwest Conference wins in a row on Thursday night. ETBU shot 59.3 percent in the second half and scored 55 points in route to the 91-79 win, too much for the Wildcats to overcome.

The Wildcats' talented freshman guard Lashard Powell was on his game early on Thursday night. He scored the first nine points of the game for LC as Powell had the 9-2 lead on ETBU through the first four minutes of play. Back-to-back three-pointers by the Tigers erased the early lead, and another long ball a few minutes later game the Tigers the lead for the first time at 11-9.

The rest of the first half was evenly matched and tightly contested between the two rivals, with ETBU holding the biggest lead at only five points. Overall there were 10 lead changes in the first half, the final one coming on a pair of ETBU free throws at the 3:31 mark of the half. LC scored four of the final six points of the half on a layup from Devon Washington and a jumper from Travis Schultz to get the Wildcats within a point at 36-35 by halftime.

The close play continued into the early parts of the second half with the Wildcats taking a slim lead after Washington hook shot and a pair of free throws from Timothy Stokes gave them a 45-44 lead at 16:39. The Tigers though would seize the momentum at that point and begin a 14-4 run to give themselves a 58-49 lead at the midway point of the half.

Although the Wildcats continued to play well the rest of the way, they were never able to the lead down below six points the rest of the way as ETBU continued to shoot well in the half. LC made exactly half of their field goal attempts in the second half but ETBU was able to make almost 60 percent of their attempts, including going 7-of-11 from behind the arc.

Devon Washington led the Wildcats with 19 points and nine rebounds in the game, while Lashard Powell cooled off slightly after his hot start and finished with 18 points. Both Trey Ames and Taylan Grogan had nine points for the Wildcats on the night.

The Wildcats will take on another potent offensive unit on Saturday afternoon as they travel to LeTourneau. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. from Longview, Texas. Stay connected to Louisiana College men's basketball by following @LC_MBSK on Twitter. For general athletics news follow @LC_Wildcats on Twitter or like Louisiana College Wildcats on Facebook.

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