By: Tom Ritter, Sports Information Director
BOX SCORE MARSHALL, Texas -- The Concordia Texas men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought battle Wednesday afternoon at East Texas Baptist by a 100-96 tally in a rare non-conference showdown.
The Tornados outscored the Tigers 11-6 down the stretch, capped by a Payton Barnes triple at the buzzer, but the rally wasn't enough.
Ben Page led a pack of five Tornados in double figures with 21 points. Page also had a team-best six rebounds. Barnes chipped in 18 points for a season high while Josh Samuels added 15 points, Ephraim Price and Rashad Coleman tallied 14 and 10, respectively.
The Tigers' Jordan Quillan had a game-best 32 points after going 13-of-14 from the field.
After a slow start, CTX took the lead after a 10-0 run mid first half capped by six straight points from Josh Samuels.
ETBU drew within one with a minute left in the half but the Tornados held on to take a 45-41 lead into the break.
CTX led by 10 early in the second half but the Tigers surged on a 10-2 run to tie the game at 51. After the two teams traded buckets, ETBU would go on a 6-1 spurt to take a 65-61 lead.
The Tornados would trail by as much as nine but they were able to draw within four with 2:10 left in the contest. Unfortunately, the Tigers used a 5-0 run to seal the contest. Overall, ETBU was 6-for-6 at the free throw line in the game's waning moments.
Concordia's defense forced 26 Tiger turnovers.
The Tornados (2-2) host UT Dallas Saturday at 2Â p.m. to open the home slate.
