RICHARDSON, Texas – Battling down to the final shot, East Texas Baptist University fell short of defeating the University of Texas Dallas, 70-68. ETBU is now 4-7 and 2-4 in the American Southwest Conference.
Five players finished in double figures as
Aaron Gregg had 12 points and five assist.
Darry Moore,
Chris Haynes, and
Charlie Cochran all had 11 points while
Jaden Conner added 10 points.
Kevin Charles finished with nine points and eight rebounds. James Curtis led UTD with 19 points.
Both teams were even with each other as ETBU made 49% of their shots while UTD finished at 44%. ETBU only made 22% from the arc while UTD swooshed 38%. At the free throw line ETBU made 75% while UTD made 70%. UTD out rebounded ETBU, 35-27, but ETBU forced 14 turnovers with six steals.
It came down to the final shot as ETBU had the ball with 13 seconds left. The Tigers brought the ball up the court after UTD made it a two-point game, 70-68, going 1-of-2 at the free throw line. At the seven second mark, ETBU had a look for the winning three-pointer but it rolled out of the rim as UTD grabbed the rebound and ran out the clock.
In the second half, ETBU had 10-point lead, 51-41, with 13:59 left on a Charles layup. UTD went on a 14-4 run over four minutes to tie the game at 55. Haynes responded with two jumpers in the paint at 9:17 and 8:39 for a four-point lead, 59-55, as ETBU kept their short distance lead. With 3:57 left, Charles put ETBU up by five, 68-63, as that was the last bucket scored by ETBU. UTD went on a 7-0 run to end the game.
Going back and forth in the first half, the score was tied nine times. ETBU built a six-point lead, 30-24, with 5:14 left on two Conner free throws only to see UTD tie the game at 30 less than a minute later on two three-pointers. Gregg put ETBU back up by three on a three-pointer at the 3:57 mark and then took a four-point lead at the half as Conner nailed a three-pointer with one second left for the 41-37 lead.
ETBU will next play on January 3 when they host Belhaven University in Ornelas Gym. The Tigers will be off for Christmas Break until January.
