LeTourneau never trailed the entire game, but LC managed to battle back from a 12-point deficit midway through the second half. A lay-up by T.J. Drew gave the Wildcats their first tie of the game with 2:38 remaining. Junior Travis Bankett hit a spinning jumper in the lane to give the Jackets the lead again. The Wildcats tied the game quickly on a thunderous dunk from Drew with 1:49 to play. Neither team was able to score again until the Jackets got the ball back for a last shot after LC threw a pass out of bounds with 23 seconds left.
The Jackets worked the ball around the perimeter and then Bankett drove the lane and dished out to Richards in the left hand corner and he calmly drilled the trifecta. Richards finished the game with nine points on 3-of-4 three-point shooting. He has made 12-of-15 three-point attempts in his last four ball games.
“I feel good for the team, they have worked hard this year and haven’t gotten much reward,” said head coach Bernie Balikian. “I’m glad we were able to beat a team as good as Louisiana College.”
LETU moved the ball well on offense all night long and finished with 19 team assists. Freshman point guard Jonathan Collins and senior Julius McClaskey each finished the game with five assists. Bankett led all scorers in the game with 27 point on 10-of-14 shooting. Collins finished the game with 15 points and five boards while fellow freshman Tim Butler had 12 points and five rebounds.
Drew and Casey Meador each had 17 points for the Wildcats with Meador tallying 15 of those points in the first half. Drew finished with a double-double by grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds while Meador dished out seven assists. The Wildcats shot 61.5 percent from the floor in the second half, but it was not enough to get the victory.
LeTourneau shot 49.2 percent from the floor and were 10-of-25 from three-point range which off set their poor foul shooting (57.1 percent). The Jackets out rebounded LC, 37-32 but turned the ball over 18 times compared to 16 turnovers for the Wildcats.
The Jackets play their final home game of the season on Saturday at 3 o’clock against Mississippi College. The game can be heard online at www.tsrnsports.com.
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Louisiana College vs LeTourneau YellowJackets 02/10/05 7:45 at Longview, TX - Solheim Arena At Longview, TX - Solheim Arena LETOURNEAU YELLOWJACKETS 82, LOUISIANA COLLEGE 79 LOUISIANA COLLEGE (10-11, 9-10) T.J. Drew 7-13 2-3 17; Casey Meador 5-15 3-3 17; Kase Gonzales 3-6 0-0 8; Chris Campbell 3-8 1-1 7; Morey Skluzacek 3-8 0-0 6; Cody Ladner 2-3 0-0 5; Cody Wyatt 2-2 1-1 5; Josh Martin 2-3 0-0 4; Codie Steele 2-3 0-0 4; Casey Wallace 1-1 1-2 4; Robert Yangeh 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 31-63 8-10 79. LETOURNEAU YELLOWJACKETS (4-18, 3-16) Travis Bankett 10-14 3-5 27; Jonathan Collins 6-13 3-4 15; Tim Butler 5-6 2-3 12; Joseph Richards 3-4 0-1 9; Jay Burnett 3-7 0-2 8; Joe Packard 2-2 2-4 6; Jeremiah Bastian 1-5 0-0 3; Julius McClaskey 0-6 2-2 2; Marqus Harris 0-0 0-0 0; Brandon Morris 0-2 0-0 0; Joseph Solomon 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 30-61 12-21 82. Louisiana College............. 40 39 - 79 LeTourneau YellowJackets...... 46 36 - 82 3-point goals-Louisiana College 9-22 (Casey Meador 4-10; Kase Gonzales 2-3; T.J. Drew 1-2; Casey Wallace 1-1; Cody Ladner 1-2; Morey Skluzacek 0-2; Chris Campbell 0-2), LeTourneau YellowJackets 10-25 (Travis Bankett 4-5; Joseph Richards 3-4; Jay Burnett 2-3; Jeremiah Bastian 1-5; Julius McClaskey 0-4; Brandon Morris 0-1; Joseph Solomon 0-2; Jonathan Collins 0-1). Fouled out--Louisiana College-Chris Campbell, LeTourneau YellowJackets-Julius McClaskey. Rebounds-Louisiana College 32 (T.J. Drew 10), LeTourneau YellowJackets 37 (Jonathan Collins 5; Tim Butler 5; Jeremiah Bastian 5; Travis Bankett 5). Assists-Louisiana College 20 (Casey Meador 7), LeTourneau YellowJackets 19 (Julius McClaskey 5; Jonathan Collins 5). Total fouls-Louisiana College 19, LeTourneau YellowJackets 16. A-654 Richards hits game winning three-pointer with 5 seconds left in game.