The victory gives the Tigers (7-8 overall, 7-6 ASC) a share of second place with Ozarks (9-7, 7-6) in the East Division standings as ETBU embarks on a two-game road trip next weekend to Texas-Dallas and Texas-Tyler. The Tigers will then finish out the home portion of the schedule with a five-game homestand beginning on Feb. 3 against UTD.
ETBU shot 52 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, including four three-pointers, and held Ozarks to 30 percent on the way to a 53-35 lead at the break. It was the largest halftime lead for the Tigers this season.
ETBU put the game on ice with a 16-4 run in the first six minutes of the second half that bumped the lead to 30, 69-39, with 14:10 remaining. The lead was at 20, 90-70, with 4:46 to go before Ozarks closed with a 15-7 run to reach the final margin.
The Tigers opened up a tight game that was tied at 17-17 at the 11:25 mark of the first half by going on a 12-2 run over the next three minutes, capped by a three-pointer by Seth Jones that made it 29-19 with 8:46 left in the half. Once the lead hit 43-32 with 3:47 remaining on a short jumper by Charles Chevalier, Ozarks would never trail by less than 11 points the rest of the way.
Chris Isom led all scorers and posted a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Isom was 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and 8-of-14 overall from the field while playing 33 minutes.
Cedric Isom, the leading scorer in the conference, missed his fourth career triple-double by only two assists, finishing with 17 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in 36 minutes. The Tigers’ Player of the Year candidate had an off-day shooting, connecting on only 5-of-18 shots from the field, but made up for it with a 6-of-8 performance at the free-throw line.
Other top scorers for ETBU included Rodney Calhoun, who finished with 14, and Chevalier, who had 13. The Tigers finished the day with a 44 percent shooting performance, including seven three-pointers.
Ozarks was led by 15 points apiece from Brent Johnson and Andy Brakebill, along with 14 points and nine boards from Habeeb Kareem. Josh Joyner also added 11 for the Eagles, who finished at 39 percent from the field.
Ozarks was able to avoid a much larger deficit on the scoreboard with a parade to the free throw line, as the Eagles connected on 23-of-38 from the charity strip.
The two teams will meet again on the final day of the regular season in Clarksville, Ark., on Feb. 19. The top four teams from the ASC East will qualify for the conference tournament on Feb. 25-27 at the site of the East Division champion.