Sully went to the break trailing 55-40. The Tigers roared into the second half with a 25-point run at the 6:55 mark. Some solid free throw shooting along with an aggressive 3-point assault by Sid Hooper and Matt Santa Cruz pulled the Lobos within 8 points late in the contest.
Hooper contributed a team and season best 35 points, just eight points shy of his career high of 43 points last season against Schreiner. Hooper nailed 12 of his 21 shots from the field including a 7 for 14 performance from long range and was team board leader with 6 rebounds.
Santa Cruz, along with fellow freshman Abraham Ely contributed 12 and 17 points respectively along with 5 rebounds apiece. Santa Cruz also led with 3 assists while Hooper added 2 steals in the effort.
ETBU's Chris Isom led the Tigers with his 25-point outing. Brother and ASC East Division Preseason Player of the Year pick Cedric Isom picked up a double-double performance of 18 points and 10 rebounds.
The Lobos were outrebounded by the Tigers, 48-38. As a team Sully shot 45.7% from the floor which was aided by a 50% (17-34) outing in the second half. The Lobos connected on 16 of its 23 shots at the foul line.
Sul Ross, 2-4 for the season and 2-3 in conference play, will make the short skip to Longview for weekend action against LeTourneau.
Newspaper Box Score Sul Ross State vs East Texas Baptist 12/8/05 8:00 at Marshall, TX (Ornelas Gymnasium) At Marshall, TX (Ornelas Gymnasium) EAST TEXAS BAPTIST 98, SUL ROSS STATE 90 SUL ROSS STATE (2-4, 2-3 ASC) Sidney Hooper 12-21 4-6 35; Abraham Ely 7-9 3-4 17; Matt Santa Cruz 4-8 2-4 12; Aaron Hardwick 2-8 4-5 8; Jermaine Packer 3-4 1-2 7; Arturo Escobar 2-9 0-0 5; Jesus Banuelos 1-5 2-2 4; Art Gonzalez 1-4 0-0 2; Ronnie Bell 0-1 0-0 0; Cornell Hunt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-70 16-23 90. EAST TEXAS BAPTIST (3-4, 3-2 ASC) Chris Isom 9-16 6-9 25; Cedric Isom 8-16 0-0 18; Cory Cooper 4-6 2-2 13; Brannon Ott 5-11 0-0 12; Ronnie Lewis 3-8 4-4 10; Allen Colbert 3-7 2-2 8; Rodney Calhoun 3-6 0-0 7; Russel Cuningham 1-3 0-0 3; Jonathan Stewart 1-1 0-0 2; Brannon Galentine 0-2 0-0 0; Trey Fort 0-1 0-0 0; Will Rollins 0-1 0-0 0; Joe Mumphrey 0-0 0-0 0; Seth Jones 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 37-80 14-17 98. Sul Ross State................ 40 50 - 90 East Texas Baptist............ 55 43 - 98 3-point goals-Sul Ross State 10-28 (Sidney Hooper 7-14; Matt Santa Cruz 2-4; Arturo Escobar 1-4; Art Gonzalez 0-2; Aaron Hardwick 0-3; Abraham Ely 0-1), East Texas Baptist 10-25 (Cory Cooper 3-4; Brannon Ott 2-3; Cedric Isom 2-4; Russel Cuningham 1-3; Chris Isom 1-2; Rodney Calhoun 1-4; Seth Jones 0-1; Brannon Galentine 0-1; Allen Colbert 0-1; Ronnie Lewis 0-2). Fouled out--Sul Ross State-None, East Texas Baptist-Cedric Isom. Rebounds-Sul Ross State 38 (Sidney Hooper 6), East Texas Baptist 48 (Cedric Isom 10). Assists-Sul Ross State 11 (Matt Santa Cruz 3), East Texas Baptist 23 (Allen Colbert 7). Total fouls-Sul Ross State 13, East Texas Baptist 17. A-518