The YellowJackets (3-17, 2-15) shot the ball well in the first half, but caught fire in the second half, shooting 67.9 percent from the field and 11-of-15 from three-point range. Junior Joseph Richards was the catalyst for the three-point barrage drilling all three of his attempts in the second half and went 5-of-6 for the game to finish with a career-high 15 points off the bench.
The Comets (9-12, 7-11) led 82-71 with 2:15 remaining in the game, but freshman Joe Packard hit a turnaround jumper to cut the lead back to nine points. The Jackets forced a rare UT-Dallas turnover and converted on a three-pointer from senior Jeremiah Bastian with 1:22 to play and forced another Comet turnover and quickly scored on freshman Brandon Morris’ driving lay-up with 51 seconds left to cut the lead to four points.
The YellowJackets were then forced to foul and sent Eric Chatham to the foul line and he made both ends of a 1-and-1 with 30 seconds remaining. Richards brought the ball down court for LETU and buried his fifth three-pointer of the game with 17 seconds left. The Jackets fouled Chatham again and this time he missed his foul shot. Bastian was given the chance to tie the game with a three-pointer, but his shot rolled off the rim. Fortunately for LeTourneau, freshman Jay Burnett soared in for the tip-in with five seconds left to make the score 84-83 Comets.
LeTourneau quickly fouled Tyrone Hurt on the in-bounds pass and sent him to the line to shoot the 1-and-1. Hurt’s free throw attempt was off the mark and LETU’s freshman point guard Jonathan Collins pushed the ball up the floor, but was unable to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.
Richards led the Jackets with 15 points while junior Travis Bankett and Collins added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Morris finished the game with nine points and was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field. Overall, LETU shot 16-of-26 from three-point range, its best on the season.
The Comets had four players score in double figures. Kersh Milson, last week’s ASC East Division Player of the Week, scored a game-high 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Martin Salinas buried five three-pointers and finished with 21 points while Jason Malone added 13 points and five rebounds. The player of the game might have been point guard Travis Caruthers and his 14-point, 9-assist, 4-steal performance.
The Comets shot 50.8 percent from the floor and hit 13-of-28 three-pointers in the game. As a team, they had 21 assists against only nine turnovers. The YellowJackets out rebounded UT-D 29-26 in the contest.
LeTourneau travels to East Texas Baptist University on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. The game can be heard online at www.tsrnsports.com.
####
05029snr-2/5/05-sm
U. Texas at Dallas vs LeTourneau YellowJackets 02/05/05 3:00 at Longview, TX - Solheim Arena At Longview, TX - Solheim Arena U. TEXAS AT DALLAS 84, LETOURNEAU YELLOWJACKETS 83 U. TEXAS AT DALLAS (9-12, 7-11) Kersh Milson 9-11 4-4 23; Martin Salinas 8-15 0-0 21; Travis Caruthers 5-6 0-0 14; Jason Malone 4-16 2-2 13; Eric Chatham 3-4 2-3 8; Jay Swafford 1-2 0-0 2; Adam Bush 1-3 0-0 2; Tyrone Hurt 0-1 1-3 1; Bart Holloway 0-0 0-0 0; Frank Faber 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 31-61 9-12 84. LETOURNEAU YELLOWJACKETS (3-17, 2-15) Joseph Richards 5-6 0-0 15; Travis Bankett 5-8 0-0 12; Jonathan Collins 4-9 0-0 11; Brandon Morris 4-4 0-0 9; Jeremiah Bastian 3-6 0-0 8; Jay Burnett 3-4 0-0 7; Julius McClaskey 3-8 0-0 7; Joe Packard 3-4 0-0 6; Tim Butler 2-3 0-2 4; Joseph Solomon 1-1 0-0 3; Marqus Harris 0-1 1-2 1; Ashton Torbert 0-1 0-0 0; Ryan Curtis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-55 1-4 83. U. Texas at Dallas............ 46 38 - 84 LeTourneau YellowJackets...... 34 49 - 83 3-point goals-U. Texas at Dallas 13-28 (Martin Salinas 5-12; Travis Caruthers 4-5; Jason Malone 3-7; Kersh Milson 1-1; Frank Faber 0-2; Jay Swafford 0-1), LeTourneau YellowJackets 16-26 (Joseph Richards 5-6; Jonathan Collins 3-5; Travis Bankett 2-4; Jeremiah Bastian 2-5; Joseph Solomon 1-1; Brandon Morris 1-1; Jay Burnett 1-2; Julius McClaskey 1-2). Fouled out--U. Texas at Dallas-None, LeTourneau YellowJackets-None. Rebounds-U. Texas at Dallas 26 (Jason Malone 5), LeTourneau YellowJackets 29 (Jay Burnett 5). Assists-U. Texas at Dallas 21 (Travis Caruthers 9), LeTourneau YellowJackets 16 (Jay Burnett 4; Jonathan Collins 4; Julius McClaskey 4). Total fouls-U. Texas at Dallas 6, LeTourneau YellowJackets 15. A-305