02.16.08
Comets Jockey For Higher Seed In
5th Straight Trip to ASC Tournament
Comets Bounce Back From Loss at ETBU To Topple LeTourneau, 66-44
LONGVIEW/RICHARDSON, TX - The UTD men's basketball team fell into a second-place tie with UT-Tyler Thursday after a disappointing 67-57 road loss to East Texas Baptist; but bounced back with a dominating 66-44 win over LeTourneau in the home finale Saturday to keep pace for one of the top two seeds in the upcoming American Southwest Conference Tournament (Feb. 29-March 1-2).
The Comets (16-7, 12-6), who will make their fifth straight trip to the ASC Tournament, wrap up their regular season with two important road games Thursday at division-leading Mississippi College and Saturday at Louisiana College. UT-Tyler, which has an identical 12-6 record, faces road challenges against the same two teams.
ETBU 67, UTD 57 (Boxscore)
The Comets let a tight game and a five-point halftime lead get away from them when they fell victim to a nine-minute scoreless spell in the second half of their game with the Tigers. After UTD turned a 27-22 halftime lead into a 32-34 advantage 1:30 minutes into the second half, ETBU went on a 22-0 run which ended when the Comets finally connected on another shot at the 9:14 mark. By then, UTD trailed 48-34.
The Comets did cut the lead down to four (59-55) with a three-point shot from Scott Rodgers with 1:42 remaining, but only hit one more shot the rest of the way as ETBU put the game away with rebounds and free throws. Lowery was the only Comet to finish in double figures with a 16-point night as UTD hit just 33.3 percent for the game and missed on 21 of 28 three-point attempts.
UTD 66, LETU 44 (Boxscore)
The Comets jumped out to an early 19-6 start, then broke out from a 34-21 halftime advantage to build as much as a 24-point second-half lead. The YellowJackets got UTD's lead down to 13 (53-40) at the 6:42 mark, but the Comets closed LETU down with a 13-4 finish.
Brandon Greene (pictured above) sparked the Comets throughout, hitting early threes and continuing to build on a 24-point game. Guard Temaine Wright was the only other Comet in double figures with 13, but the Comets held LETU to just 25.9 percent shooting in the game (23.1 percent in the second half) and forced 19 turnovers.