Down 33 in the first half? No problem.
The LeTourneau men's basketball team overcame a 33-point first-half deficit to storm back and force overtime before finishing off the comeback win in the extra period with a 111-102 victory over Howard Payne inside of a raucous Solheim Arena on Thursday night.
The win moved LeTourneau to 13-3 overall and 1-0 in ASC play.
NCAA Division III does not track records for largest comeback overcome to win a game, but 33 points has to be among the best in Division III history.
- Thursday's men's scores | More men's game stories
- Thursday's women's scores | More women's game stories
The YellowJackets trailed 57-24 with two minutes left in the first half as Howard Payne could not miss from 3-point range. In the second half, LeTourneau flipped the script.
Down 26 (60-34) at the half, LeTourneau used a quick 8-0 burst in the opening minutes of the second half to trim the deficit to 22 (62-40) after a Jackson Mayes tip-in with 18:46 left in regulation. Two minutes later, Mayes buried a 3-pointer to get the margin under 20 and the comeback was on for the YellowJackets.
By the 10:19 mark, LeTourneau had trimmed the deficit to nine (81-72) as Logan Brinkoeter finished off a layup. It was a five-point game after a Mayes layup to make it 83-78 with 8:11 remaining.
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| Walker Blaine was one of five LeTourneau players in double figures. LeTourneau athletics photo by Mickenzie Murry |
Howard Payne (8-8, 0-1 ASC) stretched the margin back to nine with 5:28 left, but LeTourneau had one more push. Connor Miller drained two 3-pointers to bookend a 10-1 run for LeTourneau that tied the game at 90 with 2:14 left. LeTourneau took its first lead since early in the first half on a Cooper Smith layup to make it 94-92.
After a pair of Howard Payne free throws to tie the game, both teams had a chance to win the game in the final seconds. Mayes missed a contested layup and Armonie Ramey just missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
�� THE COMEBACK.
— LeTourneau YellowJackets (@LETUAthletics) January 17, 2025
Down 33, @LETUMBB mounted its biggest comeback in program history.
If you missed it ��#LeTourneauBuilt #d3hoops @d3hoops @NCAAStats @NCAADIII pic.twitter.com/Dbblwm2D1m
It was all LeTourneau in the final five minutes.
Walker Blaine's layup with 3:47 left gave LeTourneau a 96-94 lead and a bucket from Teigan Edwards later made it a six-point lead (100-94) for the home side. Free throws down the stretch sealed the win.
From the final two minutes of the first half through the overtime period, LeTourneau outscored Howard Payne 87-45.
Deonte Jackson tallied his 12th 20-point game of the year with 22 points to lead all scorers. Blaine added a double-double of 17 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists. Caedmon Liebengood also had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds to go with three blocks. Mayes tallied 19 points and Edwards ended with 16 points and four assists.
LeTourneau shot 45.6 percent (41-of-90) from the field with 11 3-pointers and went 18-of-22 from the free throw line.
Howard Payne was led by 21 points from Hudson Johnson and 19 points apiece from Riley Fornerette and Ben Phillip. The visitors shot 50 percent in the first half before finishing the game at 40.2 percent (37-of-92) with nine 3-pointers.