Box Score RICHARDSON, TX (01.10.13) - It sure didn't feel like a 30-point win with the atmosphere in the UTD Activity Center, but the UT Dallas men's basketball team collected its fourth consecutive win as the Comets earned a hard-fought 79-49 home victory over East Texas Baptist in American Southwest Conference East Division play.
With 12:27 left to play, ETBU head coach Bert West was handed a pair of technical fouls and was ejected from the game as the Comets held a 43-31 lead. After the ejection, UTD would double up the Tigers, 36-18, and secure its second straight 30-point victory. Over the final 10 minutes, the visiting fans made their collective opinion known to the officials.
The Comets (now 10-4, 6-3 ASC) got off to a slow start, scoring just four points over the opening five minutes of the game, however a 9-2 run, capped by a jumper by
Dmitriy Chernikov, over stretch of four minutes lifted UTD to a 13-10 lead on the Tigers with just under 12 minutes left in the opening half. ETBU tied the game, 15-15, with 9:15 remaining before the break on a Jaron Joseph jumper by, the Comets answered with a 16-1 run over the following six minutes to grab a 31-16 advantage after a break-away dunk by Jacob VanNatten. UTD would add to its lead before the break, grabbing a 17-point advantage, 35-18, at half.
The Tigers clawed back within single digits after the first four-plus minutes of the second, using a 11-3 stretch to trim the Comets lead to 38-29 with 15:21 remaining in the game. But a pair of free throws by
Reese Dahse on UTD's next possession gave the Comets back a double-digit lead and the lead would not see single digits again.
After the ejection of West,
Kyle Schleigh connected on 3-of-4 free throws on the technical fouls and Chernikov added a three-pointer as the two fouls turned into six points and an 18-point UTD lead, 49-31. The Comets grabbed their first 20-point lead with 9:48 left on a trey by
Nolan Harvey and slowly added to their lead before securing the 30-point victory with a pair of VanNatten free throws with 21 seconds on the clock.
The Comets finished the night 22-of-46 (47.8%) from the field, hitting 8-of-17 three-pointers (47.1%) and shot 81.8 percent (27-of-33) from the foul line. It marked the fourth time this season that UTD had shot more than 30 free throws. Chernikov finished with a career-high 22 points on 8-for-13 accuracy, hitting five three-pointers. Schleigh collected his sixth "double-double" of the season with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds while VanNatten, making his first career start, scored a season-best 12 points and had four blocked shots.
For ETBU (6-8, 2-6 ASC), Joseph finished with a game-high 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting and hitting 4-of-7 free throws. Justin Felicia had nine points and a team-best seven rebounds. The Tigers shot 32.8 percent (19-of-58) from the field, hitting just 6-of-20 three-pointers (30%), and were just 5-of-9 (55.6%) from the foul line as the Comets committed just 12 fouls in the game.
Next up for the Comets is a battle for the ASC East lead as they host rival Texas-Tyler Saturday afternoon. Game time is 3 p.m. at the UTD Activity Center.
