The Tigers (8-7, 3-1 ASC) got 20-plus points from three players here Thursday night, rolling to an 88-76 victory over Louisiana College before 792 fans in Ornelas Gym. The victory, ETBU's season-best third in a row, puts the Tigers in the top spot in the ASC East with a crucial home game against Mississippi College coming up Saturday afternoon.
ETBU took down LC (7-9, 3-2), which entered the game in sole possession of first place in the division after three straight conference wins last week, with a balanced offensive attack that saw sophomore point guard Cedric Isom finish one assist shy of his second triple-double in a the last five games. Isom, the division's Preseason Player of the Year, finished with a team-best 24 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. Isom kept the Tigers in the contest in the first half, posting a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) in the first 20 minutes.
Cedric's twin brother Chris kept pace on the stat sheet, finishing with 21 points and seven rebounds. Senior guard Quinton Owens had strong second half on the way to 22 points on the night, including three 3-pointers.
Freshman guard Adam Henderson turned in his second straight strong performance off the bench, pumping in 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Senior post Clay Fisher also had a nice all-around night, finishing with five point, six rebounds and a team season-high seven steals.
LC sophomore point guard Casey Meader kept the Wildcats within striking distance, connecting on 6-of-17 3-point shots on the way to a game-high 26 points. However, LC finished shooting only 23.7 percent from beyond the arc in a whopping 38 attempts.
ETBU hosts Mississippi College, which finished second to the Tigers in the East Division but rallied to win the conference tournament, Saturday at 3 p.m. The Tigers will then hit the road for games next week at UT-Tyler and UT-Dallas.