Jan 29, 2011
RICHARDSON, TX (01.29.11) - In its long-awaited return to the UTD Activity Center, the Comet men's basketball team had five players in double figures in a 71-60 win over East Texas Baptist. The win pushed the Comets into a tie with ETBU atop the American Southwest Conference East Division with six games left to play.
The Comets trailed by just one point, 34-33, at the break despite ETBU shooting better than 68 percent from the field and UTD leading scorer junior Chris Barnes picking up two fouls in the first three minutes of the game. Barnes would sit out the remainder of the half. The Comets used 10 points from freshman Carter Nash in the opening 20 minutes and forced nine ETBU turnovers to even grab a six-point lead late in the half before the visiting Tigers ended the period on a 7-0 run.
UTD (now 14-5, 10-4 ASC) got a jumper from senior Brandon Greene on the Comets' opening position of the second half to spark a 6-0 run to take back the lead and never trailed again. The Tigers answered with back-to-back buckets by Jordan Murphy to trim the cushion back to one point, 39-38, with 14:58 remaining but the Comets answered with a lay up by sophomore Reese Dahse followed by a fastbreak dunk by junior Greg Chiasson to lift UTD back to a five-point lead, 43-38, with 12:10 left.
Just over a minute later, the Comets used two lay ups by senior Curtis Davis on consecutive possessions to take their biggest lead of the night so far at eight points, 47-39, with 11:08 left but ETBU would not go away quietly. The Tigers climbed back within four points, 51-47, with 6:22 left on a jumper by Murphy but Barnes answered for UTD on the Comets' next possession with his first field goal of the night, a 10-foot jumper to give UTD back a 53-47 advantage with 6:07 remaining.
The Comets would take their first double-digit lead of the night with 3:28 left on a lay up by Barnes and eventually extend its lead to 12 points before setting for the 11-point victory.
Chiasson led the Comets with a game-high 17 points while Davis ended the night with 16 points. Barnes, Greene and Nash each finished the game with 10 points. Davis led UTD with five rebounds and six assists. The Comets ended the night 25-of-53 (47.2%) from the field, hitting just 1-of-18 shots (5.6%) from three-point and their long-range troubles continued. UTD was 20-of-21 (95.2%) from the foul line, its first 16 free throws of the night.
For ETBU (now 13-5, 10-4 ASC), Jeremy LaGarde led the Tigers with 15 points while Josh Chambers had 14 points. ETBU hit 13-of-19 shots (68.4%) from the floor in the first half, but cooled off the final 20 minutes. The Tigers ended the game 23-of-48 (47.9%) from the field, hitting 6-of-17 (35.3%) three-pointers, and hit 8-of-12 (66.7%) from the free-throw line. ETBU out-rebounded the Comets, 30-24.
The Comets open the second half of ASC East play Monday night as they host the University of the Ozarks. Tip-off for UTD's second straight home game eight road games in a row is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the UTD Activity Center.
BOX SCORE
The Comets trailed by just one point, 34-33, at the break despite ETBU shooting better than 68 percent from the field and UTD leading scorer junior Chris Barnes picking up two fouls in the first three minutes of the game. Barnes would sit out the remainder of the half. The Comets used 10 points from freshman Carter Nash in the opening 20 minutes and forced nine ETBU turnovers to even grab a six-point lead late in the half before the visiting Tigers ended the period on a 7-0 run.
UTD (now 14-5, 10-4 ASC) got a jumper from senior Brandon Greene on the Comets' opening position of the second half to spark a 6-0 run to take back the lead and never trailed again. The Tigers answered with back-to-back buckets by Jordan Murphy to trim the cushion back to one point, 39-38, with 14:58 remaining but the Comets answered with a lay up by sophomore Reese Dahse followed by a fastbreak dunk by junior Greg Chiasson to lift UTD back to a five-point lead, 43-38, with 12:10 left.
Just over a minute later, the Comets used two lay ups by senior Curtis Davis on consecutive possessions to take their biggest lead of the night so far at eight points, 47-39, with 11:08 left but ETBU would not go away quietly. The Tigers climbed back within four points, 51-47, with 6:22 left on a jumper by Murphy but Barnes answered for UTD on the Comets' next possession with his first field goal of the night, a 10-foot jumper to give UTD back a 53-47 advantage with 6:07 remaining.
The Comets would take their first double-digit lead of the night with 3:28 left on a lay up by Barnes and eventually extend its lead to 12 points before setting for the 11-point victory.
Chiasson led the Comets with a game-high 17 points while Davis ended the night with 16 points. Barnes, Greene and Nash each finished the game with 10 points. Davis led UTD with five rebounds and six assists. The Comets ended the night 25-of-53 (47.2%) from the field, hitting just 1-of-18 shots (5.6%) from three-point and their long-range troubles continued. UTD was 20-of-21 (95.2%) from the foul line, its first 16 free throws of the night.
For ETBU (now 13-5, 10-4 ASC), Jeremy LaGarde led the Tigers with 15 points while Josh Chambers had 14 points. ETBU hit 13-of-19 shots (68.4%) from the floor in the first half, but cooled off the final 20 minutes. The Tigers ended the game 23-of-48 (47.9%) from the field, hitting 6-of-17 (35.3%) three-pointers, and hit 8-of-12 (66.7%) from the free-throw line. ETBU out-rebounded the Comets, 30-24.
The Comets open the second half of ASC East play Monday night as they host the University of the Ozarks. Tip-off for UTD's second straight home game eight road games in a row is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the UTD Activity Center.
BOX SCORE