RICHARDSON, Texas – Unable to overcome a late second half surge, the East Texas Baptist University men's basketball team suffered an 84-76 loss to the University of Texas Dallas Comets on Saturday afternoon. ETBU falls to 16-5 overall and 9-3 in American Southwest Conference East Division and into second place.

Robby Dooley and Colton Collins each led the Tigers with 15 points apiece. Jordan Gray added 10 points to round out the scoring effort. Dooley also chipped in a team-high six assists, while also pulling down eight rebounds. As a team, ETBU shot 25-of-55 (45.5%) from the floor and connected on only 8-of-28 (28.6%) from beyond the arc. UTD won the rebounding edge, collecting 35 boards to ETBU's 25 in the contest. Michael Forester led all scorers with 25 points and Hans Burrowitz added 18 points and 16 rebounds.

UTD started the game with an 8-0 spurt that was capped off by a three pointer by Xavier Ferrell, keeping ETBU off the board with an 8-0 score. Gray finally broke the dry spell with a baseline layup plus the foul to bring the score to 8-3 in the first two minutes of play. A free throw by Burrowitz would increase the lead to 10 (20-10) over the next four minutes, until the Tigers came roaring back with a run of their own. Collins kicked off the spurt with a driving layup, trimming the deficit to eight, 20-12. In spite of a three pointer by the Comets, ETBU went on to outscore the home team 15-3, which was capped off by a Nathan Fontenot three pointer to give the Tigers the 27-26 advantage with 6:03 left in the half. UTD would go on to outscore the Tigers 13-7 to end the half, bringing the score to 39-34 at the break.

Gray and Dooley scored the team's first four points of the second half, cutting the lead to three, 41-38, in the first 90 seconds. The Comets responded with a three pointer to increase the lead to six (44-38) on the ensuing possession. A deep three pointer by Riddick would bring the Tigers to within four (48-44) at the 16:22 mark. But an 8-0 run by UTD pushed the lead to 12 (56-44) over the next two minutes. The Tigers only managed to draw to within six points of the Comets before closing out the ballgame with the 84-76 score.

 ETBU will start a four-game home stand to close out the regular season beginning with a contest against the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Thursday. The ASC matchup is set for 7:30 p.m. in Ornelas Gym.