SHERMAN, Texas – Brian Baehl and Stephen Igbinosa each posted double-doubles and Austin College held off a late charge by LeTourneau to come away with a 78-73 victory on Tuesday afternoon in Hughey Gym. The 'Roos stay unbeaten on the year with the win, improving to 9-0 overall this season.
LeTourneau jumped out to an early 11-4 lead with CJ Edwards scoring seven quick points, but six points from Baehl and a three pointer from Josh Dickerman cut it to a 14-13 game with 12:12 left in the opening half. LeTourneau maintained its slim margin until late in the half, when a breakaway dunk by Cedric Hudson squared things at 24 apiece with 5:40 remaining.
The 'Roos took a 26-24 lead on a bucket by Igbinosa, and after the Jackets came back to knot things at 28 all, Austin College scored the last four points of the half to head into the break leading 32-28. The 'Roos limited LeTourneau to just 30.8% shooting in the first half.
Austin College scored the first four points of the second half to take a 36-28 lead, but LeTourneau would fight back to pull within one at 41-40 on a three point play from Edwards with 15:06 left in the game. With the score 45-42 in favor of the 'Roos and 13:59 left in the game, Austin College would go on a 15-4 run to take a 60-46 lead with 9:29 showing on the clock. Baehl and Igbinosa combined to score 12 points over the course of the run.
The Jackets started chipping away at the Austin College lead as Edwards knocked down three treys over the next five minutes to cut it to a 68-64 game, and a triple from Alec Colhoff brought the margin down to one at 70-69 with 2:46 left to play. With the score 72-70 and under a minute to play, Alan Sullivan knocked down a contested baseline jumper to push the lead to 74-70 with 33 seconds left, and Dickerman drilled four free throws in the game's final moments as the 'Roos held on for the victory.
Baehl finished with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting, adding 10 rebounds and four assists. Igbinosa had 10 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocked shots, and Hudson finished with 15 points and six boards. Dickerman came off the bench to contribute 11 points and five assists for the 'Roos, who shot 55.6% from the field in the second half.
Edwards led all scorers with 28 points, hitting 6-of-13 threes in the game while adding five assists. Jeff Martin added 19 points and nine assists, and Giovanny Thompson had a game-high 20 rebounds for LeTourneau.
Austin College will be looking to keep its unbeaten streak alive tomorrow when the 'Roos host Luther College at 4:00 p.m.
Austin College athletic teams participate as a member of the NCAA Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.