TYLER, TX (12.06.14) - Winning in the 2014-15 American Southwest Conference is never easy, but the UT Dallas men's basketball team relied on its defense once again in another tight conference game Saturday afternoon, finally taking control late for a 63-55 road win over The University of Texas at Tyler.

In a game that featured five ties and 11 lead changes through the first 28 minutes, UTD (5-2, 2-2 ASC) took a lead it would not surrender on a Matthew Medell three-pointer with 11:52 remaining and held on for the win, despite never building more than three-point edge until the final three minutes of the game. The Patriots (1-5, 0-3 ASC) kept things interesting throughout and were stll within four points (59-55) with 2:54 remaining.

As was the case throughout the defensive struggle (both teams were held to less than 36.2 percent shooting from the field), neither team would score again until Medell and Nolan Harvey canned four free throws in the game's final 17 seconds to extend the final margin out to its largest of the game. The win was UTD's second conference victory of the week after starting the season 0-2 in ASC play.

The Comets were again led by senior transfer Rafael Farley, who eclipsed the 20-point plateau for the fourth time this season and second time this week. With 22 points against the Patriots, Farley scored 49 points in two ASC wins. He also pulled down nine boards Saturday for the Comets, who out-rebounded UT Tyler 42-31.

UTD also got a big game from senior Matthew Medell, who scored 19 points and led the Comets with 10 rebounds. He scored nine of his points from beyond the three-point arch on 11 attempts. The rest of the team hit just 4-of-13.

UTD's big advantage in the game came at the free throw line, where they scored 18 points on 21 UTT fouls - all in the second half. Tyler hit just 5-of-7 foul shots, but kept itself in the game with eight three-pointers.

The Comets fell behind early, giving up the first five points of the game before Farley and Medell combined for a pair of three-pointers that gave UTD its first lead at 6-5 four minutes into the game. The Patriots tied the score several times before a Nolan Harvey layup just before halftime gave the Comets a 29-27 advantage.

The lead was short-lived as the UT Tyler came to life after the break. Eight minutes and a 15-10 run in, the Patriots were up 42-39. After the Comets were able to tie the score at 42-42, Medell put UTD up to stay with a three-pointer at the 11:52 mark. The Patriots got to within a point at 52-51 with 5:44 remaining, but Farley hit a three and three more free throws at 3:29 to put UTD out to its largest margin at that point in the game, 59-53. 

The Comets will be on the road once again this Wednesday for a non-conference game at Centenary College in Shreveport, LA, then play at Sul Ross State in Alpine on Dec. 20. UTD's next home game is a conference showdown with Howard Payne on Monday, Dec. 22.