RICHARDSON, Texas - The UT Dallas men's basketball team remained in a tie for first place in the American Southwest Conference standings after coming out with a 72-70 win against LeTourneau at the UTD Activity Center Thursday night.

The Comets (20-4, 15-2 ASC) led by 13 three minutes into the second half. The YellowJackets (11-13, 8-9 ASC) went on a 29-11 run over the next 11 minutes to gain a 61-56 advantage with 6:18 to play. From there, the teams would tie four times and exchange the leads five times over the final minutes of the contest.

A driving lay-up by LeTourneau point guard Deonte Jackson gave the visitors a 70-69 lead with 50.4 seconds left. Comet sophomore guard Luke Kiser hit a jumper with 33.4 seconds left and drained a pair of free throws at the 15.9 second mark to go up 72-69. After a foul on a three-point attempt, Jackson made just one of the free throws with 2.6 ticks left. The YellowJackets rebounded the third shot and missed as time expired.

UTD shot 44.1 percent (26-for-59) overall, 4-for-17 from three-point range and 16-for-26 at the line. They also had 34 rebounds, 19 assists, two blocks, eight steals and 16 turnovers.

LeTourneau shot 44.8 percent (26-for-58) from the field, 4-for-19 from outside and 14-for-21 at the free throw line with 40 boards, 13 assists, two blocks, 10 steals and 20 turnovers.

With one game left on the regular season schedule, the Comets need a win and a Mary Hardin-Baylor loss to break the tie and claim the top seed and right to host the semifinals and finals of the ASC Championship Tournament next weekend. If UMHB and UTD are tied, the Cru will host with the Comets being the No. 2 seed and getting a bye to the semis.

UT Dallas Notes
- The Comets recorded 20 wins for the ninth time in program history.
- Guard Kyle Poerschke scored 27 points and pulled down seven boards.
- Kiser finished with 11 points, six assists and a pair of steals.
- Sophomore forward Rob Wade recorded eight points and seven rebounds.
- Senior guard Hunter Stevens had seven points, five assists and two steals. He also moved into fourth place on the UTD career assists list with 322.
- Freshman Austin Page added seven points and senior Will Isaac pulled down six rebounds.

LeTourneau Notes
- Jackson led the YellowJackets with 27 points and five assists.
- Forward Warren Richardson had 20 points, 12 rebounds and five steals.
- Christian Adams netted 10 pois ntand pulled down seven boards.

Up Next
UTD will host East Texas Baptist on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Comets will honor four seniors before the game.