02.09.08
Comets Close In On Playoff Spot With Win
UTD Gets Big Lead, Holds Off 2nd Half Charge In 88-74 Victory
CLARKSVILLE, AR - The UTD men's basketball team built a 20-point first-half lead, then withstood a barrage of three-pointers from the University of the Ozarks in the second half to hold off the Eagles for an 88-74 American Southwest Conference win Saturday afternoon.
Brandon Greene (pictured) lit up the Eagles of 27 points, which include four three-point shots; but the Eagles countered with seven 3-point shots in mounting a second-half comeback attempt that UTD finally squelched.
With the win, UTD improved to 15-6, 11-5 on the season and remained firmly in second place in the ASC East Division, one game behind Mississippi College and one game ahead of UT-Tyler. The Comets have just four regular season games remaining, including a showdown with Mississippi College in two weeks. One more win in those final games should insure the Comets of a fifth straight post-season berth in the ASC Championship Tournament at the end of the month. (CLICK HERE for latest ASC Standings.)
The Comets again took advantage of a hot start against Ozarks, racing out to a 43-23 halftime lead. The Eagles didn't break the 10-point barrier until the 7:14 mark of the first half. (In a matchup at home last weekend, UTD led 36-15 over Ozarks at the half).
The second-half story was a bit different, though, as the Eagles came out firing after intermission. The Eagles opened the half with a 24-9 run behind five 3-pointers to cut UTD's lead down to four (51-47) with 12:29 remaining. But the Comets, sparked by a Greene 3-pointer, answered to get the lead back up to 15 points (67-53) four minutes later. Despite a determined effort from the Eagles in the final eight minutes, UTD never let Ozarks any closer than nine points.
In addition to Greene, UTD had Ernie Lowery (14 pts), Temaine Wright (13 pts) and Charles Harris (12 pts) finish in double figures. Though the Comets gave up 57.1 percent shooting in the second half, UTD answered with 55.6 percent of its own, and got 20 points at the free-throw line, thanks to 23 Ozarks fouls.