Jaron Joseph, the lone senior on senior day, led the team with 16 points and had four rebounds and three assists. Justin Felicia hit a career-high 15 points with eight rebounds while Junior Mitchell finished with 13 points and five assists. UTD's Kyle Schleigh led all scorers with 22 points.
Kerry McClahan started the second half off with a layup just 15 seconds in giving ETBU a three-point advantage, 39-36. That was the only lead that ETBU would have in the last half as UTD went on a 9-2 run for a four-point lead, 45-41, in three minutes. ETBU came back to within one, 49-48, on a Felicia three-pointer with 14:01 on the clock but the Tigers could not convert their next two possessions to take the lead. By the 8:34 mark, UTD had run to an 11-point lead, 62-51, on a 13-3 run in five and half minutes. In the next seven minutes, ETBU answered with a 12-4 run to come within three, 66-63, with 1:28 left to play. With 42 seconds left, UTD had put the lead back to seven, 70-63, but a Felicia three-pointer and Mitchell free throw made it game a three-point game 70-67 with 28 seconds left.
An ETBU intentional foul was then called right after that as UTD went 1-of-2 at the line and then hit two more free throws to put the lead at six. Overall, UTD went 5-of-6 at the line in the final 30 seconds to take the game.
UTD ran out to a 15-point lead in the first five minutes of the game 15-3 before ETBU even got their offense a rolling. ETBU then slowly crept back into the game. In the next seven minutes, ETBU went on a 21-9 run to pull within one, 29-28, on a Monty Grays jumper. With 3:03 left in the half, Joseph laid in a layup to give ETBU their first lead, 32-31. He would then hit a three-pointer with 1:28 to play for a two-point lead and give ETBU the one-point lead at the half with a jumper at the 45 second mark. Joseph scored the final seven points for ETBU in the last 3:03 for the one-point halftime lead, 37-36.
ETBU finished shooting 46 percent overall and 47 percent from the arc after shooting 66 percent in the first half. They made 71 percent of their free throws. UTD shot 34 percent from the floor, 29 percent from the three-point line, and 71 percent from the line. They also took the rebounding battle, 40-36, and only turned the ball over seven times to ETBU's 14.
ETBU will finish their final four games on the road starting on Tuesday, February 5th, in Tyler, Texas, against Texas-Tyler at 7:30 p.m.