Box Score RICHARDSON, TX (01.05.12) - Sophomore
Kyle Schleigh drained a three-pointer with six seconds left in regulation but the UT Dallas men's basketball team would not capitalize in overtime, falling 92-91 to Concordia Thursday night in American Southwest Conference crossover play.
After leading the majority of the night, the Comets (now 9-3, 5-3 ASC) found themselves behind late and needing heroics to maintain their lead atop the ASC East standings. Concordia erased a nine-point second half deficit and took its first lead of the night with 9:36 left at 60-58 on a layup by Greg Brown. From that point, the two teams would trade leads six times before the visiting Tornados grabbed their largest lead of the night at 80-76 with a three-pointer by Nick Haynes with just over a minute left to play.
The Comets answered with a pair of free throws by
Chris Barnes to cut the CTX lead in half and added another foul shot by
Matthew Medell to draw within one point, 80-79, with 17 seconds remaining. The Tornados got a pair of free throws from Donald Lee four seconds giving CTX back a three-point point cushion and setting up Schleigh's third three-pointer of the night that would send the game to overtime.
The Tornados (7-4, 5-2 ASC) scored the first four points of overtime to regain control before UTD mounted one last rally.
Carter Nash pulled the Comets within one, 90-89, with 17 seconds left in the extra period with a free throw but missed the second shot. However, Schleigh was there to secure the rebound and score on a put back to give UTD its only lead of overtime, 91-90. But, a foul called on Schleigh on a block attempt put Lee back to the line where he hit both tries with four seconds left to complete the come-from-behind win.
Schleigh, the current ASC East Player of the Week, scored a career-high 30 points and finished with his third straight double-double, adding a game-best 14 rebounds. He was 10-of-16 from the field, hitting 3-of-6 three-pointers, and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the foul line. However, the rest of the UTD team was 25-of-38 from the line, missing eight free throws in the final four minutes of regulation and overtime combined.
Greg Chiasson finished the night with 17 points, going 5-for-8 from the field and 6-for-7 from the foul line, while Medell came off the bench for a career-best 13 points. UTD shot 50 percent (27-of-54) from the field, making 5-of-18 shots (27.8%) from behind the arc, and finished 32-of-45 (71.1%) from the foul line. The 32 free throws and the 45 attempts were both season highs by the Comets.
For Concordia, Darius Anderson came off the bench to lead four Tornados in double figures with 26 points. Anderson was 7-for-16 form the field and 11-for-11 from the free-throw line. Haynes had 17 points, Lee 16 points and Josh Johnson added 11 points. Anderson and Chris McDermott each paced CTX with eight rebounds. Concordia finished the night 42.7 percent (32-of-75) from the floor, making 8-of-26 shots (30.8%) from three-point range, and shot 95.2 percent (20-of-21) from the free-throw line. The Tornados held a slight edge in rebounding, 39-36.
The Comets continue their five-game home stand Saturday afternoon when they host Mary Hardin-Baylor. Tip-off is 3 p.m. at the UTD Activity Center.
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