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Eagles Denied Comeback
Release Date: 01/14/2010
Clarksville, Ark.-LeTourneau University overcame an Eagles’ second half rally to escape with a 90-86 American Southwest Conference win Thursday in Longview, Texas.
 LeTourneau (8-5, 7-2 ASC) held a 43-34 halftime advantage. With LeTourneau leading 30-17 at the 8:40 mark, Ozarks (7-7, 5-4 ASC) eventually trimmed it to 34-29 thanks to a Jessie Raglin trey and one of his free throws. The YellowJackets’ lead then ballooned to 43-31 with one minute to play.
Ozarks appeared doomed for an embarrassing double-digit defeat as LeTourneau led 75-57 with just 5:28 to play. However, Ozarks quickly turned things around and went on a 16-7 run over the next four minutes to trim the deficit to single digits. LeTourneau later answered with a pair of free throws to go up 84-73 with 1:09 left. As a shocked LeTourneau team looked on, Mark Perez hit back-to-back three-pointers to put the Eagles within 85-79 with only 41 ticks on the clock. Colby Woolverton sank two free throws ten seconds later to make it a four-point game. Ozarks then fouled and LeTourneau missed both of their free throws to give the Eagles a chance to get even closer. Ozarks did just that when Perez hit a shot with 22 seconds left, getting the Eagles to within 85-83. LeTourneau then made three straight free throws to go up by five points with 13 seconds left. Ozarks refused to go away as Andre Williams hit a trey with 4 seconds left to cut it to 88-86. The YellowJackets finally put it away with a pair of free throws. Ozarks then had one more opportunity, but its desperation three-pointer came up short.
Blake Mitchem led Ozarks with 26 points and eight rebounds. Raglin came off the bench and scored 20 points behind a 5-of-9 three-point shooting performance. Williams added 12 points and Woolverton scored 11 points.
Ozarks returns to action when it faces East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas, Saturday.
University of the Ozarks Sports Information Office
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