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RICHARDSON, TX (03.01.09) – The American Southwest Conference's best defensive team went on the offensive Sunday afternoon, firing their way to an 84-72 win over Mississippi College to win the 2009 ASC Championship.
UTD (24-4) won the title game of the three-day ASC Championship Tournament by shooting over 60 percent from the field throughout the contest, paving the way to building an early lead and enabling the Comets to fight off any second-half challenges from the talent-laden Choctaws (20-7).
The conference championship was UTD's first since 2005 and earned the Comets the ASC's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament, which begins next weekend. UTD will learn its first-round opponent Monday morning. The national NCAA selection show is being webcast and can be viewed by
LINKING HERE. The first-round games are scheduled for Thursday night, March 5, with second-round games set for Saturday, March 7.
UTD's
Temaine Wright put on show for the Comets in the title game, earning tournament Most Valuable Player honors. Wright did not miss a first-half shot as UTD built a 40-28 halftime lead in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd. He had 13 of his game-high 17 points before halftime. Teammates
Jordan Eppink and
Ernie Lowery were also All-Tournament team selections.
The Comets nailed nine 3-point shots, shooting over 50 percent from outside the arch.
Scott Rodgers came off the bench to lead UTD in scoring with 21 points, including three 3-pointers.
Despite entering the title game as the No. 1 seed, the Comets still had deal with the bitter memory of a 76-66 home loss to the Choctaws back on Feb. 7; and the fact that MC had rallied twice from big deficits in the semifinals to finish off McMurry 85-80 just a day earlier.
But UTD played perhaps its best overall game of the season, shaking off an early deficit and going in front to stay (18-16) with 9:28 to go in the first half on a
Jimmy Witten layup. The Comets, in fact, went on an 18-4 run to open up a 12-point edge (33-21 with 4:36 to go before halftime and held a 40-28 lead at the break.
The Comets did not let up in the second half, scoring the first two baskets of the half and leading 45-28 at 19:02. Despite MC's determined effort to rally for the second straight day, UTD would have none of it. The Comets kept piling on the points, holding the lead above 10 ponts. Whenl the Choctaws cut the lead down to nine points (57-48) at 12:17, reserve
Chris Barnes answered with five points in a :33 span. MC got back to within eight points (62-54) again at 10:16, but UTD was again there with a response.
When Mississippi College tried to force the issue late with fouls and a full-court press, the Comets responded by building their biggest lead of the game at 18 points (82-64) with 2:06 on the clock and both coaches conceded the outcome by emptying the bench. It was the bench play of UTD reserves like Barnes,
Charles Harris, Rodgers and
Jared Fleming that kept the pressure on throughout. The Comet bench scored 37 points on the afternoon.
Despite swarming UTD defense, the talented Choctaws still shot 55 percent from the field and made things interesting with 20 trips to the free-throw line. Fortunately for UTD, MC was only able to convert on 12 of the free shots.
In addition to Rodgers and Wright, the Comets got double-figure scoring from
Brandon Greene and Witten, who contributed 10 points each. Eppink finished with 8 points and 7 rebounds. UTD won both the rebounding battle (28-24), and came up with 10 steals.
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