SPRINGFIELD, MO. - In head coach Ja Havens return to the last school that he coached at, the East Central University men's basketball team claimed a 73-59 victory over Missouri Western State at the Doubletree Houlihans Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Drury University.

Photo Gallery

The Tigers (4-2) were led by junior Stirling Thomas, with 19 points and five rebounds.  Redshirt-sophomore Braxton Reeves added 14 points and senior Henry Pwono 12.  The rebounding leader for ECU was junior Aly Hudgins, with a season-high eight boards.

The Griffons were the first to score (19:28), but ECU immediately took control and went on a 12-0 run over the next five minutes.  The Tigers kept pushing and increased the lead to double digits at 15:09 (12-2).  ECU never let the Griffons get closer than eight points and led by as many as 20, in the first 20 minutes, and went into the locker room with a 39-19 advantage.

The first eight minutes of the second half were close, with both teams scoring 13 points, for a 52-32 lead for the Tigers.  However, that is when MWSU pushed back and put together an 8-2 run over the next 3:30 to cut the disadvantage to 14 (54-40).  The Griffons kept pushing and cut the lead to under 10 points with 4:08 remaining (63-54), on a 22-9 run.

The Tigers then buckled down and out-scored MWSU 10-5 in the final four minutes of the game for the 73-59 win.

ECU took advantage of their possessions, shooting 51.4 (19-of-37) percent from the floor and 50 (5-of-10) from beyond the arc.  The Tigers also came up strong on defense holding the Griffons to 31.4 (22-of-70) percent from the field and 18.5 (5-of-27) percent from beyond the arc. 

ECU also took advantage of their trips to the charity stripe, going 30-of-42 and only allowed MWSU to go to the line 13 times (10 makes).

The Tigers will have a short turn-around to get ready for their next game, Saturday, Nov. 28 against Cameron at 1 p.m. in the O'Reilly Event Center.