Smith’s basket snapped the YellowJackets’ (4-5, 3-4) five game losing streak and put an end to a marathon affair that featured a combined 61 fouls and 68 free throws between the two teams. The Tornados (3-6, 2-5) had taken a one-point lead on Valentino Maxwell’s two free throws with 44 seconds left in overtime.
The Tornados started the game strong and jumped out to a 22-14 lead with 13:11 remaining in the first half. The Jackets responded with a 25-9 run over the next 10 minutes of play and went into halftime with a 48-37 lead. Freshman Dusty Evers was the driving force for LeTourneau with 17 points and nine rebounds in the first half. He would finish the game with his first career double-double, 23 points and 11 rebounds.
In the second half, the Jackets upped their lead to 15 points, 69-54, with 11:53 left in regulation. The Tornados started to close the gap and finally tied the score at 79-79 with 1:36 left in regulation. After each team made 1-of-2 free throws, the Tornados had a last chance to win the game in regulation, but they could not get one of their three attempts from three-point range to drop.
In overtime, the Jackets went up 86-82 with 3:19 to play on a tough driving lay-up from sophomore Jay Burnett. The Tornados were not done and they managed to take the lead with 1:09 remaining on a free throw from Brandon Graves. The Jackets took back the lead at 88-87 on a turn around 10-foot jumper in the lane by senior Reese Lantrip. Then it was Maxwell making two free throws that set up the dramatics by Smith.
Five YellowJackets scored in double figures with Evers leading the team. Lantrip scored a season high 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds while making 10-of-11 free throws. Junior Marcus Coleman scored a career high 14 points while Burnett and Smith added 14 and 13 points, respectively.
As a team, LeTourneau shot 47.1 percent from the floor and out rebounded the Tornados 55-44. The Tornados made just 38.0 percent of their shots but forced the Jackets into 29 turnovers while committing just 16 of their own.
Maxwell led Concordia with 21 points while Joel McDonald added 19 points and eight rebounds. Brandon Graves and George Freeman each pumped in 15 points for the home team.
LeTourneau is on the road again on Saturday at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor at 3 o’clock. The game can be heard online at www.tsrnsports.com.
LeTourneau vs Concordia 01/05/06 7:30 p.m. at Austin, Texas At Austin, Texas LETOURNEAU 90, CONCORDIA 89 LETOURNEAU (4-5, 3-4 ASC) Dusty Evers 10-17 3-6 23; Reese Lantrip 3-11 10-11 16; Marcus Coleman 4-7 4-5 14; Jay Burnett 6-12 0-2 14; Dewones Smith 6-11 0-0 13; Travis Bankett 2-3 2-2 6; James Williams 1-1 0-0 2; Joe Packard 0-1 2-4 2; Jacob Butler 0-1 0-0 0; Casey Sitton 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 32-68 21-30 90. CONCORDIA (3-6, 2-5 ASC) Valentino Maxwell 8-20 5-6 21; Joel McDonald 5-13 7-10 19; George Freeman 4-14 6-6 15; Brandon Graves 6-11 3-4 15; Luis Urquieta 3-5 0-2 7; Michael Moore 2-7 1-3 6; Steve Nolan 1-3 2-2 4; Sanora Baptiste 1-3 0-5 2; Jack Montagna 0-0 0-0 0; Michael Mann 0-1 0-0 0; Keighton Hatten 0-1 0-0 0; Devin Marburger 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-79 24-38 89. LeTourneau.................... 48 32 10 - 90 Concordia..................... 37 43 9 - 89 3-point goals-LeTourneau 5-19 (Jay Burnett 2-6; Marcus Coleman 2-4; Dewones Smith 1-3; Casey Sitton 0-2; Reese Lantrip 0-3; Dusty Evers 0-1), Concordia 5-34 (Joel McDonald 2-7; Luis Urquieta 1-2; George Freeman 1-10; Michael Moore 1-3; Michael Mann 0-1; Steve Nolan 0-2; Brandon Graves 0-2; Valentino Maxwell 0-7). Fouled out--LeTourneau-Jay Burnett; Marcus Coleman; Dusty Evers; Joe Packard, Concordia-None. Rebounds-LeTourneau 55 (Dusty Evers 11), Concordia 44 (Joel McDonald 8; Sanora Baptiste 8). Assists-LeTourneau 22 (Travis Bankett 5; Dusty Evers 5), Concordia 18 (Luis Urquieta 5). Total fouls-LeTourneau 34, Concordia 27. A-200