Hardin-Simmons Wins Second Straight ASC Men's Basketball Title

Hardin-Simmons wins its second straight ASC Men's Basketball Championship.

2/25/2017 9:19:37 PM

Final Box Score
Postgame Interview
Photos

LONGVIEW, Texas - Hardin-Simmons' men's basketball team held off LeTourneau, 104-92, to claim its second straight American Southwest Conference title on Saturday evening at Solheim Arena in Longview.

The Cowboys received huge efforts from its veterans and Nathaniel Jack was named the MVP of the tournament after scoring a career-best 32 points and hauling down 14 rebounds. Duane Hopper scored a career-best 30 points.

"Our core guys have been through every situation and they never flinched," said HSU head coach Craig Carse. "We know what we need to do at each point of the game and they just respond. They have worked hard for this."

HSU came out focused and jumped out to an 18-2 lead with nine points by Hopper. LeTourneau cut it to 10 at 21-11, but HSU continued to build the lead and Justin Jones slam at the halftime buzzer gave the Cowboys a 49-27 lead.

LeTourneau did not go away as the Yellowjackets came out on fire in the second half and scored the first 13 points. Alex Colhoff had a half for the ages as he hit 9-of-12 3-pointers in the second half and had 32 points in the period to bring the Yellowjackets back.

The run continued out to a 30-5 run and at the 14:35 mark LeTourneau trailed 57-54. Then the Cowboys regained their momentum and pushed the lead back to a comfortable margin and never let LeTourneau to get all the way back.

Colhoff led the Yellowjackets with 32 points and Nate West added 26.

Christian O'Neal, Hopper and Jack were named to the all-tournament team.

HSU is now 22-6 on the year and will play in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. The field will be announced on Monday on NCAA.com. LeTourneau is also 22-6 on the year and will hope for an at-large bid from the NCAA Committee.

2017 All-Tournament Team
Nathaniel Jack, Hardin-Simmons (MVP)
Christian O'Neal, Hardin-Simmons
Duane Hopper, Hardin-Simmons
Jeff Martin, LeTourneau
Nate West, LeTourneau
Dimitrius Underwood, UT Dallas
Joe Neal, Concordia Texas

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