By Alan Wiederhold
LETU Sports Information

LONGVIEW, Texas – Deitrich Williams sank two free throws with six seconds remaining in the game to lift the LeTourneau YellowJackets to a 70-68 win Saturday over rival East Texas Baptist.

Williams (Fort Worth, Texas/Grace Prep Academy) was one of three YellowJackets scoring at least 10 points as LeTourneau (2-20, 1-16 American Southwest Conference) snapped a 19-game losing streak.

The loss dropped East Texas Baptist (14-8, 11-7 ASC) two and a half games behind East Division leader UT-Dallas. The Tigers will need to win out and have UT-Dallas lose its final three games in order to tie for the East Division crown.

The YellowJackets erased with a seven-point deficit thanks to a 14-4 run between the 7:59 and 4:15 marks of the second that gave the home team a 64-61 lead.

Jourdan Hughes (Dallas, Texas/SW Christian College) scored a team-high 14 points and played a key role in spurring the Jackets' comeback effort. The junior guard scored 12 points in the second half.

East Texas Baptist's Josh Chambers scored a game-high 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting. He also was a force near the backboard, grabbing eight rebounds in the game. Jacob Turnipseed added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers.

The two teams exchanged points during the final four minutes of the game as LeTourneau's lead kept alternating between one and three points.

After Chambers cut the LeTourneau lead to 68-67 with 1:18 remaining, the Tigers had a chance to reclaim their lead after forcing a turnover on the other end of the court. Turnipseed was fouled on the fast break attempt, but could only convert one out of two free throws to tie the game at 68 with 40 seconds remaining.

In turn, the Jackets opted to use as much of the shot clock as possible. With approximately three seconds left on the shot clock, Williams darted in for a layup and was fouled by the 6-foot-7 Chambers.

After Williams hit his go-ahead free throws, the Tigers raced down the court only to have the ball knocked away from Jeremy LaGarde. The ball went to Jaron Joseph, who tossed up a desperation 3-pointer from 28 feet at the buzzer, but it fell short and the Jackets began celebrating.

Jace Williamson (Van Alstyne, Texas/Van Alstyne) scored 10 points for the YellowJackets. Jacob McCarthy (Brownsboro, Texas/Brownsboro) came off the bench and scored nine points for LeTourneau.

Free throw shooting in the second half helped lift the Jackets to victory. The YellowJackets shot 86 percent (18 of 21) from the charity stripe during the game, and were 12 of 13 (93 percent) from the line in the second half.

East Texas Baptist shot 79 percent (26 of 33) from the free throw line during the game, but after shooting 82 percent before halftime, could only make 75 percent (12 of 16) during the second half.

Jarrod Hudgens (Montgomery, Texas/Montgomery) and Kendrae Carter (Houston, Texas/NW Oklahoma State) scored eight points apiece for the YellowJackets.

The Jackets will contest their final home game of the season when they host UT-Tyler on Tuesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.