MARSHALL, Texas – Top-seeded East Texas Baptist led from wire-to-wire, as the Tigers defeated the Concordia University Texas men's basketball team, 82-71, in the American Southwest Conference Tournament Championship game on Saturday at Ornelas Gymnasium.
Three Tornados (18-10) found their way into double figures, led by
Rashad Coleman, who scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Andre Potts netted 19 points, while
Josh Sanchez tallied 12.
Following the game, both Coleman and Potts were named to the ASC All-Tournament Team.
East Texas Baptist (23-5), which captured the program's first-ever conference title and the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament, shot 50 percent (25-of-50) from the field, including 57.7 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
Jamie Samuel led the Tigers with a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds.
East Texas Baptist started the game on a 9-2 run. The Tigers increased their advantage to 24-9 with 9:05 left in the first half. Concordia Texas was able to trim the lead to 39-31 with 2:02 left in the half, but ETBU pushed it to 43-33 at intermission.
The Tigers continued to lead by double digits in the final half, increasing their advantage to as much as 16 in the first 10 minutes. Potts hit a 3-pointer with 1:40 to play to cut the lead to 69-61. However, Junior Mitchell, who earned ASC Tournament Most Valuable Player honors, was fouled and hit a pair of free throws to push the advantage back to double figures for good.
In all, East Texas Baptist scored its final 16 points at the free-throw line.
Prior to reaching the title game, the Tornados knocked off third-seeded Louisiana College in the quarterfinals and No. 2 seed Hardin-Simmons in the semifinals. It marked the third time that Concordia reached the ASC Tournament Championship game under head coach
Stan Bonewitz. CTX reached the title contest in 2008, and the Tornados won the 2013 crown.
