The win lifts ETBU to 9-9 in the conference, tied with Ozarks and Louisiana College for the second seed from the East Division. The top four teams in the division will advance to the conference tournament later this month.
Mississippi College has already clinched the division title and will host the championship tournament on Feb. 25-27 in Clinton, Miss.
The Tigers (9-11 overall) jumped on the YellowJackets (3-18, 2-16) with an 18-6 run midway through the first half to build a double-digit lead, 27-16, with 5:59 remaining before halftime. The Tigers bumped the lead to as much as 13 in the first half before LeTourneau crawled back to within 10, 35-25, at the break.
That’s when ETBU guard Cedric Isom took over the game. The Tigers’ All-America candidate and conference-leading scorer poured in 21 of his game-high 26 points in the second half. Isom finished the night with 6 rebounds and 7 assists as well.
Isom also moved into 10th all-time at ETBU in scoring, finishing the night with 1,246 career points. Only a junior, Isom trails No. 9 Keith Grant (1979-83) by only 12 points on the list.
He was joined in double figures by Chris Isom, who pumped in 16 points with 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks, while freshman Seth Jones came up big off the bench with is best night as a Tiger – 13 points and 2 steals in only 10 minutes of action. Jones drilled 3-of-5 3-pointers on the night to help the Tigers keep pace with LeTourneau’s long-range attack, which included an 11-of-31 performance from beyond the 3-point arc.
The ‘Jackets were led by Jonathan Collins’ 12 points and Julius McClaskey’s 11.