Box Score
Photo Gallery
Belton, TX – The University of Texas at Dallas men's basketball team controlled the game from the opening tip and the defending American Southwest Conference championships cruised into another title game with an 86-54 victory over East Texas Baptist in the semifinals of the ASC Tournament Saturday in Belton. The Comets improve to 23-4 on the season with the victory. The loss ends the Tigers season with a 15-12 overall record.
UT-Dallas opened the game with an 8-0 run and held the Tigers without a field goal for the first 7:22 of the game. The Comets would lead by as many as 26 points in the first half before settling for a 43-21 halftime lead. ETBU never got closer than 24 points in the second half and the Comets stretched the lead out to as many as 37 points.
Scott Rodgers led UTD with 23 points and he added five rebounds and four assists. Curtis Davis added 13 points and Jimmy Witten and Chris Barnes scored 11 apiece for the Comets. Jordan Eppink also reached double figures with 10 points and he grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Jacob Turnipseed and Jaron Joseph had 13 points apiece to lead ETBU and James Morman added 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Tigers.
UTD shot 54 per cent from the field and held ETBU to 36 per cent shooting. The Comets turned the ball over just eight times and out rebounded the Tigers 36-35. UTD also hit 11-26 from three-point range while the Tigers were just 2-14 from beyond the arc.
The Comets are now in the ASC Championship game for the second straight year and the third time overall. UTD will now face tournament host Mary Hardin-Baylor in the title game at 2:00 PM tomorrow. The ASC Champion receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Championships.
