>>12.07.05
Comets Battle Back, Hold On
To Top Schreiner For First Win
UTD 57, Schreiner 55

KERRVILLE, TX - It had been more than a week since University of Texas at Dallas guard Martin Salinas (right) and his teammates had played well enough to win a basketball game. But Wednesday night, Salinas returned to his offensive form and the Comets finally got their first victory of the season by holding off Schreiner, 57-55, in an American Southwest Conference game.

Salinas, who had scored just nine total points in the two games since setting a school record with 40 points against McMurry on Nov. 28, came alive in the second half of the Wednesday night game. He scored 18 of his team-high 20 points, and hit four big three-pointers in a game where every shot mattered.

Salinas' most important play of the game may have come with 4:20 left when he reached in to defelect a Schreiner pass, and raced down the court with the turnover for a layup to give UTD a three-point advantage (52-49) in a nip-and-tuck game. After Schreiner cut the lead back down to one in the game's final minutes, a Kersh Milson layup and two Travis Carruthers free throws put the Comets up at 56-51. Schreiner made one last run to pull to within one (56-55) with :24 seconds left. A missed UTD free throw in the final seconds opened the door for an unchallenged three-point attempt from Schreiner's Jonathan Young that could have given the Mountaineers the lead with :08 on the clock, but the shot rattled off the backboard.

The athletic Mountaineers put pressure on UTD the entire game with an up-tempo attack that gave Schreiner several leads throughout the first half. UTD tied the score at 23-23 at 3:31 before halftime, but Schreiner shut out the Comets the rest of the half to go up 32-23 at intermission. The Comets opened the second period on a 9-2 run to pull to within three (34-31) at the 16:19 mark. But SU answered with a run of its own and was back up eight (43-36) four minutes later. At 4:39, Bush got one of UTD's many inside baskets to cut the lead down to 50-49, before Salinas got his big steal and layup to put the Comets in command.

In addition to Salinas, Milson finished in double figures with 14 points. Tyrone Hurt had a 12-rebound performance for UTD.

BOXSCORE