Box Score CLINTON, MS (01.19.13) - Junior
Kyle Schleigh scored his 1,000th career point as he finished with 27 points in a 63-49 road win over Mississippi College Saturday afternoon in American Southwest Conference East Division play.
Schleigh, a forward from Houston, entered Saturday's game needing just seven points to become the7th member of the 1,000-point club at UTD and became the first Comet junior ever to reach the plateau with 40 seconds left in the first half on a jumper after a pass from teammate
Reese Dahse.
The Comets (now 13-5, 8-4 ASC) took the lead less than a minute into the game and never looked back as they shot 52.5 percent from the field in their 11th double-digit win of the season. UTD hit 21-of-40 shots from the floor, making 8-of-22 three-pointers (36.4%), and was 13-for-15 (86.7%) from the foul line as a team as the Comets picked up their seventh victory in the last eight games.
UTD led by as many as 13 points on two occasions in the opening half before settling in for a 34-22 lead over the Choctaws at the break after shooting 60 percent (12-of-20) from the field as a team. The Comet defense then clamped down in the second half, holding MC to just 7-for-20 (35%) as a a team over the final 20 minutes.
The Comets led by double-digits for the majority of the second, allowing MC to draw with eight points on two occasions before putting the Choctaws away. Schleigh drained his only three-pointer of the game with 6:26 to play to boost the Comets to their largest lead of the afternoon at 19 points, 57-38.
Schleigh, the ASC's leading scorer this season with nearly 21 points per game, finished the game 8-for-13 from the field, hitting 1-of-6 three-pointers, and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line. It was his 15th straight game of scoring in double figures and he nearly recorded his ninth "double-double", ending the contest with a game-high eight rebounds. Schleigh now sits in sixth place all-time on the Comets' scoring list with 1,020 career points, passing Jordan Eppink (1,010 points, 2006-10). Schleigh is 26 points behind Brian Thomas (1,046 points, 1999-20) for fifth place all-time.
Dmitriy Chernikov added 11 points as the only other Comets in double figures while
Nolan Harvey added nine points and
Chris McOmber had eight points and seven rebounds. UTD dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Choctaws, 31-22.
For MC (9-7, 6-5 ASC), Brandon Blake scored a team-high 19 points on 5-of-15 shooting and 9-for-11 accuracy from the foul line, but was the only Choctaw to score more than six points. MC shot just 36.2 percent (17-of-47) from the field, making just 2-of-13 three-pointers (15.4%), and shot 76.5 percent (13-of-15) from the charity stripe.
The Comets maintain their slim lead in the ASC East standings after the win, remaining a half-game ahead of Texas-Tyler (7-4 ASC). Mississippi College and LeTourneau are tied for third place, both at 6-5.
UTD continues its five-game road trip Thursday night as the Comets visit LeTourneau. Game time is 7:30 p.m. in Longview.
