Championship Central | Box Score | Interview with LeTourneau

ALPINE, Texas - Letourneau won its first American Southwest Conference Championship in men's basketball Saturday night by defeating East Texas Baptist 82-79 at the Pete P. Gallego Center.

The YellowJackets (23-5) receive the ASC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Championship. The field will be announced on Monday, March 2 at 11:30 a.m. on NCAA.com.

The Tigers (21-7) led 33-25 with 4:58 left in the first half, but LeTourneau used a 14-6 run, capped by a buzzer-beating half court shot from senior guard Nate West, to tie the contest 39-39 at the break.

ETBU led 60-53 with just under 11 minutes to play. LETU went on 7-0 rally to tie up at 60 each over the next minute. From there, the game featured seven lead changes and five ties before a West jumper in the paint gave the YellowJackets the lead for good at 79-77.

West made two more free throws with 24 secons left to go up 81-77. ETBU junior forward Chris Haynes scored on a putback to cut the deficit to 81-79 nine seconds later. After a missed free throw by LETU, guard Justin Moore blocked a shot that led to a rebound and West getting fouled. He made 1-of-2, giving the Tigers a chance to tie it with under two seconds left. The inbound pass that had to go the length of the floor was picked off by sophomore forward Kyle Matthews to secure the title for LeTourneau.

The YellowJackets shot 40.6 percent (28-of-69) from the field, 8-of-29 from three-point range and 18-of-25 at the line to go with 40 rebounds, seven assists, 11 turnovers, three blocks and six steals.

The Tigers shot 46.5 percent (33-of-71), 6-of-16 from outside and 7-of-14 from the line with 46 boards, 12 assists, 15 turnovers, one block and five steals.

West, the tournament's Most Valuable Player, scored 36 points with eight rebounds and three steals. Already the league's all-time leading scorer, he broke two more records Saturday - most points in a season (779) and most total points in a tournament (95).

Moore added 19 points and eight rebounds and was selected to the All-Tournament Team. Korrin Taylor came up with nine points and John Argue had six points and eight boards.

Haynes, who was also on the All-Tournament Team, paced the Tigers with 21 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Senior guard Robby Dooley added 14 points and 11 rebounds and was also selected to the All-Tourney Team.

2020 All-Tournament Team
Nate West, LeTourneau (MVP)
Robby Dooley, East Texas Baptist
Andrew Eberhardt, LeTourneau
Chris Haynes, East Texas Baptist
Tristen Licon, Sul Ross State
Justin Moore, LeTourneau
Jalen Weber, UT Dallas