BELTON (01.17.15) – A record-tying 40-point game from senior transfer Rafael Farley came up just short Saturday afternoon as the UTD men's basketball team faltered late for the second game in a row and lost an 80-78 American Southwest Conference road game at The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.
 
Farley tied a mark set in 2005 by former Comet star Martin Salinas, but had to miss what could have been a record-setting free throw with 01.6 left in the game to give his team a chance to tie the game.
 
In a back-and-forth game, UTD (10-5, 5-5 ASC) saw the Cru (11-4, 8-2) rally from eight points down (76-68) in the final 2:39 and take an 80-76 lead with :14 left. Farley was fouled driving to the basket on the record-tying layup, but purposely missed the foul shot to give his team a chance at a tip-in.
 
The Comets were able to tie up the rebound and got possession, but a tip-in attempt off an inbound pass with 0.2 seconds left went awry.
 
Farley did set new UTD and ASC records, canning 10 three-pointers on 16 attempts.
 
Unfortunately for the Comets, the rest of the team was 3-for-18 from beyond the arc, and Matthew Medell was the only other Comet to finish close to double figures. UMHB ended the game with 29 points from its bench while UTD reserves contributed just nine points.
 
Medell nailed a three-pointer with 2:39 left that gave the Comets their 76-68 lead, but UTD came up empty on several ensuing trips down the floor and watched UMHB's Jared Graham lead a 10-0 run with a tip-in and a pair of threes that put UMHB up 80-76 with :14 left. The Comets went scoreless until Farley pulled the game to within two points with 1.6 seconds left.
 
The game featured nine ties and 13 lead changes as neither team could hold on to a lead very long.
 
After a close start, the Comets moved out to a comfortable lead midway through the first half. UMHB cut an early UTD advantage down to 12-10 at 13:09, but Farley and Coulter led a quick 14-3 run that included four three-pointers on the way to a 26-13 Comet lead.
 
But the long-distance attack cooled off considerably for the Comets after that. In addition, the Cru began forcing turnovers and getting hot from beyond the arc themselves with four late three-pointers. By 2:22, a steal and layup had cut UTD's lead down to 31-33. Moments later, another fast break basket by UMHB had tied the score back up at 33-33 and UTD led just, 39-38 at the break.
 
Neither team built much of a significant lead in the second half before three-pointers from Farley and Medell, plus a pair of Farley free throws gave UTD its late 76-68 lead.
 
Farley added 11 rebounds as UTD won the battle of the boards, 40-35. The Comets had 19 second-chance points. But the Comets misfired at the foul stripe, hitting just 17-of-28 free throws. UMHB was 21-of-29.  UTD hit 24-of-52 for 46.2 percent shooting while UMHB finished at 26-of-62 (41.9). UMHB got 20 points off 15 UTD turnovers.
 
The Comets, who have now dropped to .500 in ASC play after two straight road losses, return home on Thursday to face UT Tyler at 7:30 pm in the UTD Activity Center.