AUSTIN, Texas – Rashad Coleman and
Andre Potts combined for 45 points, and the Concordia University Texas men's basketball team overcame a seven-point deficit in the second half to hand East Texas Baptist its first loss of the season, 74-67, on Saturday at Concordia Fieldhouse.
Coleman matched his career high with 24 points, including 16 in the second half. The sophomore guard also added seven rebounds, three steals, one assist and a blocked shot.
Potts netted 21 points and grabbed seven boards in 24 minutes off the bench, while
Jared Galvan chipped in with 10 points.
Jamil Samuel paced the Tigers (8-1, 3-1 ASC) with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Junior Mitchell added 15 points.
The Tornados (5-5, 1-4 ASC), which won their second consecutive game, trailed 33-29 at halftime. East Texas Baptist then stretched its advantage to 44-37 with 15:18 to play in the contest.
CTX turned to Coleman, who scored six consecutive points.
With the Tornados trailing by seven, Coleman made his way into the lane and hit a jumper to trim the deficit to five points. He then stole the ensuing inbound pass and connected on a layup. Following another ETBU turnover, Coleman went back to the lane and made another layup to cut the lead to 44-43.
After Samuel scored for the Tigers, Galvan cut to the basket to stay within one. Concordia Texas then got the ball back following another turnover by East Texas Baptist, which set up Potts for a 3-pointer that put the Tornados in front 48-46.
ETBU got the lead back and pushed its advantage to 53-49 with 8:50 to play.
The Tornados again turned to Coleman and Potts, as the duo combined to score the next 17 points for the home squad, and CTX held a 66-61 lead following a pair of free throw from Potts.
Terry Corprew and Pott each buried a pair of shots from the charity stripe to increase Concordia's advantage to 70-61 with 29 seconds remaining.
The Tigers were able to trim the lead to six following a triple, but the Tornados clinched the game at the free-throw line, knocking down the final four shots for the double-digit victory.
Concordia will return to action on Monday against LeTourneau. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
POSTGAME NOTES•
Rashad Coleman tied his career high of 24 points that he previously set on Nov. 22 at Schreiner.
•
Jared Galvan scored a season-high 10 points in his first action since Dec. 13.
• Thanks to
Andre Potts (24 points), Concordia won the scoring battle off the bench, 35-21.
• The Tornados scored 27 points off 21 ETBU turnovers.
