JACKSON, Miss. -- LeTourneau University men's basketball team beat Birmingham-Southern, 80-66, Saturday at the Millsaps Classic.

It was the YellowJackets' second win at the Hangar Dome in nine days, and both times they held their opponent to 66 points. LETU (3-1) will meet Millsaps for a second time this season at 5 p.m. Sunday to conclude the weekend tournament.

"I thought we did some good things, especially early, with our ball movement to find some good looks," LeTourneau coach Dan Miller said. "We should be a team that has more assists than turnovers every game."

The YellowJackets had 18 assists and 12 turnovers. They outscored the Panthers, 20-9, in points off turnovers. Birmingham-Southern (2-4) had 10 assists and 22 turnovers.

LETU never trailed, and was tied for only 18 seconds, that stretch coming in the first minute of the game. After the Jackets built a nine-point lead on Andrew Eberhardt's basket, the Panthers used a 7-0 run to close within 12-10 at the 14:23 mark. But the YellowJackets went on a 8-2 run of their own, capped by a pair of Nate West free throws with 12:40 remaining in the half to stretch the lead back to eight. 

BSC cut it down to three on Josh Childers' lay-in at the 6:13 mark, but LETU climbed back ahead by eight on Rashard Johnson's triple 3:43 before halftime. West sank four free throws in less than a minute as the Jackets extended the lead to 12. Birmingham-Southern cut it to nine on a transition bucket in the paint by Childers, but Brick Fosnight scored on the next trip down the floor, and Justin Moore sank a free throw to send LeTourneau into the break on top, 50-38. 

West scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half. Fosnight went 5 of 8 from the floor, scoring 13 of his 15 points in the opening half. The YellowJackets shot 41 percent in the half, going 17 of 41. The Panthers hit 50 percent of their field goals, going 15 of 30.

Eberhardt canned a three-pointer at the 16:46 mark in the second half as LeTourneau stretched its lead to 21. Birmingham-Southern drew within 17 on Christian Stewart's layup, but Garrett Beene buried a three, and Moore scored on a layup to push the lead back to 21. The Panthers cut it to 16 on a 3-pointer by Stewart with 5:56 remaining, but Warren Richardson quickly answered with a transition basket, and the Jackets sank six of their last eight free throws to put the game away.

"We didn't feel we played a complete game, and are still searching for that 40 minutes of focus," Miller said. "We absolutely must do a better job on the defensive side of the boards. Sloppiness the last 10 minutes of the game is something we have to clean up, and I'm excited to get back to work with this group to do that."

The YellowJackets were outrebounded, 56-42. Birmingham-Southern grabbed 23 offensive rebounds, and LeTourneau had 24 defensive boards. The Panthers' bench outscored the Jackets, 32-20. The YellowJackets shot 9 of 32 in the second half. The Panthers were 8 of 37. LETU outscored BSC in transition, 25-9. LeTourneau went 20-for-28 from the free throw line. Birmingham-Southern was 15-for-27.

West had five rebounds, four assists and four steals to go along with his 19 points. He was 8-for-8 from the stripe. Fosnight added six boards, three assists and a block, while shooting 6 of 9 from the floor. Richardson finished with 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal. John Argue had nine points, five rebounds and a block. Beene had eight points. Eberhardt finished with seven points, four rebounds, four assists and a steal. Moore scored seven points. 

Childers had 13 points and eight rebounds, and Ben Spence finished with 12 points, 11 boards, three steals and a block for the Panthers. 

"I always want the guys to enjoy the win," Miller said, "but then we need to quickly refocus so we are sharp tomorrow."