The Eagles (10-7, 10-4) used an 18-8 run over an 8-minute span in the first half to gain an 88-74 victory over LeTourneau University (6-9, 5-8) on Saturday and help Ozarks stay in second place in the divisional standings. The YellowJackets never recovered from the Eagles’ first half flourish and Ozarks finished strong in the second half shooting 55 percent from the field. The first half spurt began when Josh Joyner hit a shot with 8:49 left to give Ozarks a 27-22 lead. Joyner would score four possessions later to add to the run and Habeeb Kareem would score five points of his own. Ted Beard hit two three-pointers during the outburst, including one to give Ozarks their final points of the half.
Leading 43-30 at the half, Ozarks did more of the same in the final twenty minutes of action as they stretched their lead to 49-32 after Chris Clark completed a three-point play. The Eagles increased their lead to as many as 23 points on three different occasions in the second half, the first when Joyner scored two of his 13 points at the 13:23 mark.
Kareem led the team with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor. It was the fifth straight game in which Kareem has led Ozarks in scoring. Joyner and Clark followed with 13 points. Beard ended the contest with 11 points and Clint McHenry went a perfect 4-of-4 from the field to score 10 points. David Hamilton and Brad Johnson had 5 rebounds to lead Ozarks. Scott McCall had 4 assists and Johnson had 5 steals. Johnson now needs 6 steals to break the school’s all-time record.
Ozarks will travel to Pineville, Louisiana, to face Louisiana College on January 26.