"What a great game," says head coach Bert West. "It was a tremendous effort by both teams. We are one step away from the goal that the kids have had all year and I am very proud of them."

Justin Felicia led the team with 18 points while Ahnre Gray added a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jamil Samuel, Tyler Day and Junior Mitchell also scored in double figures with 13, 10 and 11 points, respectively. HPU leading scorer Brandon Gould scored 25 and grabbed 10 rebounds.

"This was a big time win for our program as we move onto our first ever championship appearance," says Tyler Day. "It's big for our fans too as they come out loud and are dressing up as Tigers. That's really a lift for us."

The win improves ETBU to 22-5 over and moves their home winning streak to 19-games as they are 15-0 this year in Ornelas Gym. ETBU has also won 13 out of their last 14 games.

Ahnre Gray says, "This is just a big accomplishment for our team. It's a surreal feeling as I still haven't come down yet as I have never been a part of a team like this."  

ETBU never trailed in the second half, but there were a few moments where HPU got within striking distance. At 17:25 HPU pulled within five at 42-37, then four at 48-44. But ETBU held off HPU every time. Down 74-65 with 1:16 to go, HPU made their move. Blake Arbogast hit a three from 30 feet out with 57 seconds to go, then a turnover by Dylan Augustine allowed Khyce Randall to hit a three to pull within three at 74-71 with 47 seconds left. The next possession Arbogast got a steal, threw it to Ty Davis as he went out of bounds, then Davis missed a breakaway layup that would have pulled them within one. Jorden Young had two chances to score but couldn't convert. Gray grabbed the board and then hit a foul shot to put ETBU up 75-71. With 19 seconds left Randall made a layup to pull HPU within two at 75-73. After a turnover by ETBU, HPU called timeout with 10 seconds left, with one last chance, Randall put up a three that rimmed out. Guillory got the rebound but could not put up a second shot as ETBU held serve on their home court once again.

HPU started hot right out of the gates, scoring the first seven points. Gould scored first with Davis scoring the next five. Down 9-2, ETBU went on a 9-0 run to take their first lead at 11-9, with Gray scoring four points. Tied at 18 with 10:53 to go in the half, ETBU reeled off 12 of the next 14 points to go up by 10 at 30-20. It was their largest lead of the half, and ETBU would take a seven point lead into half at 39-32.

In the three meetings this season, HPU and ETBU each scored 223 points. ETBU won both games in Marshall by two points while HPU won by four in Brownwood. ETBU will play Concordia University-Texas in the championship game tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. at Ornelas Gym.