MARSHALL, Texas- Unable to overcome hot shooting, the East Texas Baptist University men's basketball team had their eight game win-streak snapped, 96-79, by the University of Texas Dallas on Thursday night. ETBU drops to 11-3 overall and 5-2 in American Southwest Conference play.
Robby Dooley led ETBU with 15 points and five rebounds, while
Westin Riddick added 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the three point line.
Jordan Gosey and
Darrice Whitley each chipped in 10 points apiece.
Dion Mack scored 11 points off the bench on a perfect 3-of-3 from the floor, and
Nathan Fontenot rounded out the Tiger's effort with 10 points.
Dimitrius Underwood led UTD with 20 points on the night.
The Tigers jumped out to the fast start, scoring the first six points of the game capped off by a layup from Gosey at the 18:35 mark of the first half. UTD responded by connecting on a three pointer by Caleb Banks then a layup by Underwood to bring the score to 6-5 30 seconds later. Whitley and Dooley kept the Comets at bay, scoring the team's next eight points of the contest to increase the lead to four (14-10) with 15:22 to go till the half.
UTD responded with a 13-2 run to go on top 23-16 with 12:13 on the game clock. ETBU entered the locker room with a 17 point deficit, 47-30.
In the first half, ETBU connected on 14-of-30 from the floor (46.7%) but converted only one three pointer in nine attempts (1-of-9) from beyond the arc. Conversely, UTD shot a blistering 54.3 percent from the field (19-of-35) and 8-of-12 (66.7%) from the three point line.
Dooley opened the second half carving his way through the Comet defense to score the team's first bucket plus the foul 14 seconds into the second half, cutting the lead to 47-33. Back-to-back layups by Gosey and Whitley trimmed the lead to 12 (49-37) over the next minute.
The Comets would once again have an answer, sparking an 18-6 run to increase the lead to 67-43. Both teams would exchange baskets down the stretch but would ultimately fall to UTD 96-79.
ETBU will next travel cross-town to take on LeTourneau University on Monday, January 15.
