ALPINE, TX (12.19.16) - Two days after falling on a buzzer-beater at Howard Payne, the UT Dallas men's basketball squad was handed a 60-58 road defeat at Sul Ross State Monday afternoon in American Southwest Conference play as the Comets failed to get off a game-winning three-pointer at the horn.

The Comets (1-8, 1-3 ASC) dropped their fourth straight decision and will now take off nearly two weeks before returning to the court. Next up for UTD is a home game with non-conference foe Rhodes at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 31, at the UTD Activity Center.

UTD led by as many as eight points with just over seven minutes left to play, only to watch the host Lobos claw back into the contest and steal victory. Ben Smith's jumper with 7:17 remaining lifted the Comets to a 48-40 advantage, after trailing SRSU by seven points, 31-24, at the half. UTD had used a 14-0 run early in the second half to turn the game around.

The Comets maintained their lead until the 2:53 mark when SRSU's Xavier Webb drained a three-point to cap a 10-1 run and give the Lobos a 52-50 advantage. Webb added a lay up on the Lobos' next trip to extend the lead to four points and A.J. James hit another three-pointer with 2:15 on the clock to lift SRSU to a five-point lead, 57-52.

Caleb Banks drew the Comets back within two points with a three-pointer with just under a minute to play, but SRSU answered with a pair of free throws on their next possession. Jon Hatcher would then cut lead back to just one point with a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining, but again the Lobos answered with two free throws. UTD's final chance came when Banks kicked out the ball to Kyle Coulter at the top of the arc, but Coulter had to avoid a SRSU defender before taking his shot, allowing the clock to run out.

The Comets finished in game shooting 35.2 percent (19-of-54) from the floor and hit just 5-of-19 (26.3%) three-pointer. Hatcher led UTD with 13 points while Banks and Dimitrius Underwood each had 12 points. Underwood led the Comets with eight rebounds.