SHREVEPORT, LA - Rafael Farley had his third straight game of 20 points or more, and Nolan Harvey hit a pair of clutch free throws down the stretch as the UT Dallas men's basketball team held off Centenary College, 84-81, for a non-conference road win Wednesday night.

It was the Comets' (6-2 overall) third straight road win.

Harvey, who was a perfect 8-for-8 from the line in a game that featured 46 combined foul calls  and 58 free throws between the two teams, needed to sink his final pair with :05 remaining to pull away from a precarious one-point lead. Farley then got a fingertip on a last-second potential game-tying three-pointer by the Gents (3-6 overall) to preserve the three-point win.
 

Centenary is a member of the NCAA Division III Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC).

The Comets had built their lead up to 10 points (79-69) with 1:50 to play on a Kyle Coulter jumper, but that was UTD's last basket from the field for the night. The Comets had three different opportunities to stretch out their lead as Centenary resorted to fouling to get the ball back, but missed one of two free throws on three different occasions in the game's final two minutes. A three-pointer from CC's Justin Cueto following a Comet turnover with :13 seconds remaining cut the lead down to one at 81-80.

With :06 left and down by two, Centenary's Trevion Kirkendall (who led his team with 22 points) missed a free throw attempt himself that would have tied the game. After another Gents foul, Harvey hit both his shots at the other end to ice the win.

Farley surpassed the 20-point barrier again for the Comets, leading UTD with 25 points and pulling down 8 rebounds. He was 4-of-6 on three pointers as UTD nailed 11-of-19 from beyond the arc. Matthew Medell, who hit 3-of-5 threes and had six rebounds, finished with 13 points as did Harvey. 

Quick three-pointers from Farley, Medell and Coulter to start the game spurred UTD to an early 11-6 lead, but the Gents pulled to within 14-13 before the Combets finished the first half strong. A three from Caleb Banks at the 3:55 mark of the first period gave UTD its largest lead of the game at 35-22, completing a 21-9 run.

The Comets led 47-35 at the half after shooting 60.7 percent (17-of-28) from the field in the first half, and were still up by 12 after a Coulter jumper made it 52-40 with 17:02 to go in the game. But the Gents came back, cutting the lead down to four points five different times over a 10-minute stretch before a Harvey three-pointer at the 4:27 mark made it 71-64. A pair of Coulter free throws stretched the lead to 75-66 with 3:06 remaining, then his jumper at the 1:50 mark put the lead to 10 points (79-69) before CC made its late charge.

The Comet defense again held an opponent below 40 percent shooting as Centenary finished 26-of-65 from the field.

UTD returns to American Southwest Conference play on Saturday, Dec. 20 with a 3 pm game at Sul Ross State in Alpine before returning home on Monday, Dec. 22 to face Howard Payne.