Box Score RICHARDSON, TX (02.16.13) - The UT Dallas men's basketball won its fifth consecutive outright American Southwest Conference East Division title Saturday, outdueling LeTourneau for a 76-55 win it its regular season finale.
UTD (19-6 overall) finished off the season schedule with a 14-5 conference record, holiding off UT Tyler (18-7, 13-6 ASC), which won a thriller over Louisiana College Saturday, 92-91.
By virtue of the divisional crown, the Comets will host the ASC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament next weekend in the UTD Activity Center gym. UTD will be the East Division's No. 1 seed and meet Schreiner, the No. 4 team out of the West Division, in a quarterfinal game Friday night at 7:30 pm.
The Comets used a hot start to build a big lead in their rematch with the YellowJackets (11-14, 10-9 ASC), who had beaten UTD, 45-42, earlier this season.
Kyle Schleigh led the way with 23 points to raise his record-setting season total to 523 points.
Matthew Medell and
Chris McOmber were able to chip in 11 points each to round out the double-digit scoring. UTD did get offensive help from five other players as the Comets hit nine three-pointers and shot 48.2 percent from the floor.
The Comets out-rebounded LETU, 39-28.
LETU's Ladaria Brown was the only YellowJacket to finish in double figures with 19 points. He was a one-man wrecking crew from beyond the arch in the first half, nailing three three-pointers as LETU tried to get back into the game. In the second half, however, Brown scored just eight of the 'Jackets' 25 points in the half as the Comets pulled away.
UTD exploded out of the gate to take a 13-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game, and never trailed. The Comets were leading, 20-5, after
Kyle Schleigh hit his second three-pointer in the first 6:05 of the game. LETU was able to respond, cutting the lead down to single digits three times the rest of the game, but the Comets were always able to turn the YellowJackets away and stretch their lead out to 20 by game's end.
Dmitriy Chernikov and Mike Timmons, earning a start on Senior Day, pitched in three-pointers for UTD's torrid start.
Reese Dahse, the other senior honored prior to the game, went down hard with an injury just three minutes into the game, but had already grabbed three defensive rebounds as LETU could not find its shooting range early.
The YellowJackets cut UTD's lead down to nine (25-16 at 10:29) after an 11-5 run over a three-minute span. But LETU cooled off and the Comets got a pair of threes from Chris McComber off the bench to help stretch the lead out to 43-30 at intermission.
LETU looked for a moment like they might make a game of it in the second half. The YellowJackets scored five quick points to cut the lead down to 43-35 in the first two minutes of the half before Chernikov stopped the tide again with a basket underneath. Schleigh then reeled off eight points as part of a 22-8 run over a 10-minute stretch that put UTD up, 65-43 with 8:03 left. The YellowJackets never got closer than 17 points again.
