THE RUNDOWN
LONGVIEW, Texas – Josh Sanchez and
Adam Whitlock led a quartet of Concordia University Texas men's basketball players into double digits, and the Tornados held off LeTourneau for a 77-69 victory in American Southwest Conference (ASC) action on Thursday night at Solheim Arena.
Sanchez and Whitlock each netted 17 points apiece, while
Dwayne Patterson (12) and
Brett DeMetrotion also tallied double digits. Patterson also brought down a team-high 10 rebounds to earn his fourth double-double of the campaign.
Concordia Texas (7-2, 4-2 ASC) opened up an 11-point lead in the second half after Sanchez completed a traditional three-point play with 5:39 to play.
The YellowJackets (2-7, 1-5 ASC) was able to get as close as four points with 1:40 remaining. However, Sanchez drained a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to stretch the lead to 71-64.
The Tornados scored six of the final 11 points to clinch the league victory.
Josh Thornton paced LeTourneau with 17 points, while Justin Jones racked up a double-double with 15 points and a game-best 13 boards.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Concordia won its fourth consecutive game. It also marked the Tornados' third straight win on the road.
• CTX limited LeTourneau to only 69 points, the lowest by a Tornados opponent since Fisher was held to 64 on Jan. 13, 2013.
• Concordia outrebounded the YellowJackets, 44-43. The Tornados are 3-1 when outrebounding their opponent this season.
• Thursday's win marked the fifth consecutive year that the Tornados won their first game immediately following New Year's Day.
• Concordia tied a season high with 11 steals in the game.
•
Josh Sanchez set a career high with six steals.
STAT OF THE GAME
The Tornados used an 11-3 run over a three-minute period to take a 63-52 lead in the second half.
UP NEXT
The Tornados will continue their four-game road trip on Saturday against East Texas Baptist. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. at Ornelas Gymnasium.
