Box Score Christian O'Neal Game Winner
LONGVIEW, Texas – Christian O'Neal hit a 3-pointer from near midcourt at the buzzer to give Hardin-Simmons an 83-80 win over LeTourneau in non-conference action on Thursday afternoon at Solheim Arena in Longview.
LeTourneau came out on fire, hitting five 3-pointers in the opening minutes to take an early 17-4 lead. The Yellowjackets maintained a double figure lead the rest of the first half and took a 50-36 lead into halftime.
HSU used a 23-7 run out of halftime to take a 59-57 lead on a
Cameron Barnes layup with 13:37 to play. Neither team led by more than six the rest of the way.
Nathaniel Jack split a pair of free throws with :05 to play and LeTourneau answered with a Giovanny Thompson dunk with 2.6 seconds to play. LeTourneau tipped away the first inbounds pass for the Cowboys and HSU inbounded in front of the LeTourneau bench with 1.6 to play.
O'Neal then took a dribble on the inbounds and heaved a shot just beyond halfcourt and he banked in the shot to give the Cowboys the win.
HSU had a balanced attack again with five players in double figures. Barnes and
Dashun Dixon had 14 points each, O'Neal and
Justin Jones had 13 points each and Jack added 12 points and 15 rebounds.
C.J Edwards and Thompson paced LeTourneau with 15 points each. Caleb Loggins added 13 points and Sam Talbert added 12.
The Cowboys are now 7-4 on the year and will return to action Saturday at Belhaven at 3 p.m. LeTourneau fell to 4-8 on the year. HSU beat LeTourneau twice this season on shots in the final seconds.
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