Feb. 21 was a historic night for the LeTourneau men. In addition to winning their final regular season game of the year against American Southwest Conference East Division rival University of the Ozarks, 68-63 and staying in playoff contention, juniors Dusty Evers and Dewones Smith each scored their 1,000th career point in the second half of the game.

The victory means that should East Texas Baptist lose their game on Saturday against Ozarks, the Jackets would advance to the ASC tournament for the second straight season.

The game began with Evers scoring six quick points for the YellowJackets, but the it was the Eagles (8-16, 5-14) who were playing well early taking a 20-14 lead with 9:41 to play in the half. The Jackets responded with a 10-0 run that was highlighted by a 30-foot pass from Smith to sophomore Marcel Louimeus that resulted in a Louimeus dunk with 6:01 to play.

Louimeus would continue his strong inside play ending the half with a monstrous baseline jam and a 34-32 half time lead. Louimeus scored two more quick buckets to start the second half before getting into foul trouble. An Evers jumper with 13:43 gave the center his 1,000th career point and gave the Jackets a 42-41 lead.

Louimeus was put back on the floor and came up with a huge put back to give the Jackets a 62-59 lead with 1:41 to play. Smith would make it a two-possession ball game when he made two free throws with 1:01 to play scoring his 1,000th point in the process. After Ozarks made 1-of-2 free throws, Smith was fouled again and made both ends of a 1-and-1 to give the Jackets a 66-60 lead with 36 seconds left. The Jackets would hold on to a 68-63 victory.

Smith led the Jackets with 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Louimeus just missed his career high scoring 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor and held the ASC’s top scorer, Habeeb Kareem, to just 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting. Evers finished with 14 points, five boards and two blocks while JJ Rockmore added 10 points, five boards and four assists. The Jackets shot 45.2 percent from the floor, but were only 9-of-16 from the foul line. They forced the Eagles into 27 turnovers.