Athletics

Pilots tackle Tigers with 93-77 victory

November 04, 2006

Dallas, TX---With 8:16 remaining in the second half, Paul Quinn College Tigers’ Tyrone Edwards connected on two free throw attempts to tie the score at 69-69, but the LSUS Pilots finished the game on a 24-8 run to take their season opener by a final score of 93-77.

Five unanswered points in the first minute of the contest forced Pilots Head Coach Chad McDowell to call an early timeout to stop the Tiger outburst which led to a Pilot 5-0 run of their own. The Pilots led by as many as 11-points in the half, but a late 12-5 run by the Tigers cut the Pilots lead to 50-46 at the break.

Blake Whittle poured in 20 first half points for the Pilots on 7-of-11 shooting while Kyile Byrd added eight points and collected 10-rebounds.

A three-point field goal by Larry Ivey with 10:53 remaining in the second half gave the Tigers a 65-64 lead, but Pilot point guard Freddy Hughes responded with two of his career high 22-points to give the Pilots a lead they would never relinquish.

Whittle finished with a game high 31-points and 11-rebounds en route to a 93-77 LSUS victory.

“Tonight was the most fun I have had on a basketball court since high school,” stated Whittle, a 6’6 senior transfer from Lamar University.

The Pilots won the battle of the boards by a 54-37 tally which proved to be the difference in a very testy season opener for the Pilots.

“This was a great team win tonight. We battled through foul trouble the duration of the second half and had some key plays come from guys off the bench, and from guys logging some heavy minutes because of our short bench tonight,” said McDowell.

The Pilots lost NAIA pre-season All-American Josh Porter for the first two games of the season due to injury, and saw Byrd and starting forward Jamon Morris each sidelined early in the second half with four fouls.

Despite watching the majority of the second half on the sidelines, Byrd, a 6-6 senior transfer from the University of Texas-San Antonio collected 14-points and 14-rebounds in his Pilot debut.

Hughes finished with a career high 22-points while senior forward Greg Tyer collected his first career double-double with 14-rebounds and 13-points. Nick Garrett provided the Pilots with some steady back court play dishing out a game high seven assists while committing zero turnovers in 21-minutes of action.

The Pilots will have very little time to enjoy their 1-0 start as they will travel to Hot Springs, AR Saturday morning for a 5:00pm contest against Champions Baptist College.