On “Senior Day,” the YellowJackets (8-17, 7-15) received strong performances from seniors Travis Bankett and Reese Lantrip. Bankett finished the game with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists while making all nine of his free throws. Lantrip played a solid game defensively and contributed on the offensive end with six points, seven rebounds and three assists.
The Eagles (14-11, 14-8) entered the game in second place in the ASC East Division and held an eight point lead with 5:19 left in the first half before the Jackets closed the gap. Junior Marcus Coleman scored on a driving lay-up for LeTourneau as the half ended to give the Jackets the momentum, despite the Eagles still holding a 28-27 halftime lead.
The second half was all LeTourneau as the Jackets took the lead for good on a three-pointer by freshman Dewones Smith with 15:41 left in the game. Sophomore Jay Burnett sparked the LETU offense as he scored all 16 of his points in the final 11:43 of the game. The back breaker for the Eagles came when Burnett hit three straight three-pointers in a span of 2:15 to give the Jackets a 12-point advantage.
Quietly, LeTourneau freshman center Dusty Evers put up 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds on 9-of-13 shooting from the floor. As a team, the Jackets shot 45.8 percent from the field, including 6-of-20 from three-point range and were 16-of-21 from the foul line.
Ozarks was led by post Habeeb Kareem who had a game high 27 points on 11-of-13 shooting and he grabbed nine rebounds. No other Ozarks player had 10 points and the team shot just 37.7 percent from the field. The Eagles out rebounded the Jackets, 40-34, but they committed four more turnovers.
Newspaper Box Score University of the Ozarks vs LeTourneau University 02/18/06 3:30 at Longview, TX - Solheim Arena At Longview, TX - Solheim Arena LETOURNEAU UNIVERSITY 76, UNIVERSITY OF THE OZARKS 64 UNIVERSITY OF THE OZARKS (14-11, 14-8) Habeeb Kareem 11-13 5-5 27; Chris Williams 4-8 0-0 9; Chris Clark 2-5 2-2 7; Jacob Sibley 2-5 0-0 6; Josh Joyner 2-6 1-2 6; Brad Johnson 1-9 3-4 5; Ted Beard 1-5 0-0 3; Jeremy Clark 0-1 1-3 1; David Hamilton 0-4 0-0 0; Clint McHenry 0-2 0-3 0; Scott McCall 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 23-61 12-19 64. LETOURNEAU UNIVERSITY (8-17, 7-15) Dusty Evers 9-13 2-2 20; Jay Burnett 6-11 1-4 16; Travis Bankett 3-11 9-9 15; Dewones Smith 3-9 1-2 9; Marcus Coleman 3-4 0-0 7; Reese Lantrip 2-6 2-2 6; Joe Packard 1-2 0-0 2; Casey Sitton 0-3 1-2 1; Jacob Butler 0-0 0-0 0; James Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-59 16-21 76. University of the Ozarks...... 28 36 - 64 LeTourneau University......... 27 49 - 76 3-point goals-University of the Ozarks 6-23 (Jacob Sibley 2-4; Chris Clark 1-3; Ted Beard 1-3; Chris Williams 1-2; Josh Joyner 1-3; David Hamilton 0-1; Scott McCall 0-2; Jeremy Clark 0-1; Brad Johnson 0-4), LeTourneau University 6-20 (Jay Burnett 3-5; Dewones Smith 2-6; Marcus Coleman 1-2; Reese Lantrip 0-1; Travis Bankett 0-4; Dusty Evers 0-2). Fouled out--University of the Ozarks-None, LeTourneau University-None. Rebounds-University of the Ozarks 40 (Habeeb Kareem 9), LeTourneau University 34 (Dusty Evers 9). Assists-University of the Ozarks 8 (Brad Johnson 3), LeTourneau University 13 (Travis Bankett 4). Total fouls-University of the Ozarks 20, LeTourneau University 17. A-400 Senior Day