RICHARDSON, TX (02.14.11) - Senior Curtis Davis hit two free throws with :03 left in the game after Mississippi College technical foul to lift the UT Dallas men's basketball team to a 56-54 home home win over the Choctaws. With the win, the Comets have clinched the American Southwest Conference East Division title outright with two games left to play in the regular season.

MC's Pierre Hadley knotted the game at 54-54 with six seconds left on the clock with a fade-away three-pointer from the corner as the Choctaws seemingly had forced the game to overtime after trailing by as many as seven points late in the second half. However, when MC's Marlon Ester stole the deep inbounds pass by Comet senior Brandon Greene, the Choctaw coaching staff knew it was one timeout too many. Ester's mistake sent Davis to the line for the game-winning free shots and Hadley's attempt to win the game on a desperation trey came up short.

UT Dallas (now 18-5, 14-4) shot poorly in the opening half, hitting just 9-of-27 shots from the field (33.3%), but forced 15 first-half turnovers by the Choctaws to snag a eight-point advantage at the break, 26-18. The visiting Choctaws came out of the locker room more aggressive on defense and slowly picked away at the UTD lead, eventually taking a 36-35 lead with 9:41 left in the game on a lay up by Chad Jones.

The Comets quickly answered with a jumper by Davis on their next trip down the court and extended their lead back to six points as junior Greg Chiasson capped a 7-0 run by UTD with a jumper with 7:37 remaining. That bucket gave the Comets a 42-36 left.

The two teams would battle over the next few minutes, trading but the Comets would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the game. MC (now 12-11, 9-9 ASC) did manage to knot the game, 42-42, when Ken Black used an old-fashioned three-point play to close out a 6-0 run by the Choctaws. But, UTD would slowly pull back ahead by as many as seven points, 50-43, with 4:33 remaining before the frenetic finish.

With 1:08 on the clock, Black drew the Choctaws within one point, 52-51, with a lay up while being fouled, but missed the free throw. That would be the final points for MC's leading scorer as he fouled out soon after, ending the night with a game-high 18 points.

The Comets struggled at the line down the stretch, hitting just 2-of-4 free throws in the final minute before Davis' game winners. Davis would hit one free shot with 36 seconds left to give UTD the three-point lead before Hadley tied the game.

UTD ended the game 20-of-48 from the field (41.7%), making 5-of-20 shots (25%) from three-point range, and shooting just 55 percent (11-of-20) from the free-throw line. Junior Chris Barnes was the only Comet in double figures, ending the game with 12 points while Davis had nine points and four others finished with eight points. Davis led UTD with nine rebounds, a game high.

For MC, Black was the only Choctaw in double figures as well as Jones came off the bench for nine points. MC shot 40.4% (21-of-52) from the floor, 4-of-17 from three-point range (23.5%), and hit 8-of-13 shots (61.5%) from the foul line. The Choctaws dominated the boards, out-rebounding UTD, 38-28.

The Comets return to action Thursday night when they host rival Texas-Tyler at the UTD Activity Center. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m

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